Positive or negative, drug user or sober, the citizens of Scott County all have one thing in common: They’re scared.
In 2014, nine new cases of HIV/AIDS were diagnosed in Monroe County, according to the state department of health. An hour and 30 minute drive away in Scott County, 149 new cases of HIV, the disease that causes AIDS, have been diagnosed in about three months.
“There’s no one in that community that isn’t directly impacted,” said Jill Stowers, clinical lead manager of community health at IU Health Bloomington. “Everyone knows somebody or is related to somebody (with HIV)."
Positive Link, a community health program through IU Health Bloomington Hospital that provides free health support services to HIV/AIDS patients in south central Indiana, has been working to quell the southeast Indiana outbreak since mid-February.
Positive Link staff assist the Indiana State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by enrolling residents in HIV/AIDS Care Coordination and state-provided health insurance, providing clean needles through the Scott County syringe exchange, and testing for HIV and hepatitis C in Austin and in nine southeast Indiana jails.
A rapid HIV test takes about 20 minutes to produce results. In 20 minutes, Stowers and her Positive Link staff members can answer a lot of questions.
Can HIV be transmitted by using the same eating utensils as someone with the virus? Can I get HIV from kissing my boyfriend or girlfriend? Can my child get HIV at school from their HIV-positive classmates?
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