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HIV Epidemic in Southern Indiana

Olowkow

Philosopher
Olowkow
Joined
Oct 29, 2007
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Governor Mike Pence has declared a medical emergency in Scott County, Indiana which is reportedly the epicenter of an epidemic of HIV cases. All confirmed cases have been related to needle sharing and intravenous drug use of the opioid painkiller Opana, according to Pence. Link below contains a very somber Governor Pence realizing the gravity of his state's situation.

Indiana Declares Public Health Emergency to Battle Worst HIV Outbreak in State History - ABC News

There have been 79 confirmed cases of HIV since January in the city of Austin, Indiana. This city, with a population of just over 4,000, has seen an average of 5 cases of HIV a year until recently. The sociological impact of joblessness and poverty in Austin is covered in this Tribune article.

Scott county is virtually in the middle of nowhere on Route 65 just north of Louisville, and no one seems to have noticed this problem in the upper levels of government despite the fact that many in Austin knew about the drugs and prostitution, according to video accounts.

The governor is just now accepting CDC advice and ordering a needle exchange program and free HIV testing, despite his general opposition to such programs, "if the local governments should deem it necessary or appropriate."

This is the same governor Pence who just signed a law permitting discrimination on certain minorities based on deeply held religious beliefs. My question is why has it taken him 3 months to notice an epidemic of these proportions? I find this more than a little jaw dropping that such a belated response hasn't gotten more criticism in the media.
 
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Needle exchange, aggressive sex education including heavy promotion of the use of condoms. One would hope that Indianans (well, Americans in general but starting with the location of an outbreak is something at least) would jump all over this stuff.

ETA: I can hardly wait for someone to call this holy punishment.
 
It seemed to me when I read about this that when 15 or 20 cases had been recorded, that would have been a red flag to begin taking drastic measures. I guess I wonder what this governor's motives are, but I am struggling to be a skeptic while being fair.
 
Babbylonian said:
Needle exchange, aggressive sex education including heavy promotion of the use of condoms. One would hope that Indianans (well, Americans in general but starting with the location of an outbreak is something at least) would jump all over this stuff.

ETA: I can hardly wait for someone to call this holy punishment.
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One would hope. Something odd going on here.
There is a lot of reading between the lines to be done here. Listening to the Governor speak raised the hair on the back of my neck.
 
Guess these junkies didn't get the message that sharing needles is a bad idea. Must've nodded out over the past 30 years.
 
I'm thinking "these junkies" are just church going farm boys and girls and high school kids with nothing else to do. I'm not sure this is what the American dream is supposed to be about. Question is, why did it take 79 cases of HIV to get government to declare an emergency?
 
HenryLee said:
Guess these junkies didn't get the message that sharing needles is a bad idea. Must've nodded out over the past 30 years.
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I'll bet they got the message that being caught possessing drug paraphernalia twice in Indiana could get them sent to prison for up to 3 years. But, yeah, let's definitely take potshots at people caught in a system where they can't legally buy a *********** needle without a prescription.
 
Anyone know anything about Opana? It's real name is Oxymorphone. Seems like a mild pain killer. I don't see any indications of addictiveness.
 
theprestige said:
That seems like an awfully stereotypical point of view.
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How so? It's not a college town. It's just a small town with no real industry.

ETA: "these junkies" was not my term, I might add.
 
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Olowkow said:
How so? It's not a college town. It's just a small town with no real industry.

ETA: "these junkies" was not my term, I might add.
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There's 10's of thousands of rural towns of similar bored teenagers all over the Midwest that aren't afflicted by such staggering numbers of IV drug addiction, prostitution, and AIDS. I find it extremely unusual.
 
HenryLee said:
Guess these junkies didn't get the message that sharing needles is a bad idea. Must've nodded out over the past 30 years.
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Knowledge is useless if a remedy is not available, or if - as has been suggested - the remedy itself is potentially illegal. At 79 cases it's that not much less than we see in a whole year across the whole of the UK by this infection route.
 
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dirtywick said:
There's 10's of thousands of rural towns of similar bored teenagers all over the Midwest that aren't afflicted by such staggering numbers of IV drug addiction, prostitution, and AIDS. I find it extremely unusual.
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I suspect we'll find Patient Zero was quite popular with the needle crowd.

I spent my school years in little towns in Indiana, and never did anything stronger than pot. And acid. And some pills of some kind. But no drugs. ;)

I have great sympathy for the kids who live in such mind-numbing little **** holes. "Drop Dead Gorgeous" ripped on them beautifully.
 
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