4/6/21 Manchin Asks CDC to Look Into a West Virginia HIV Epidemic

with K. C. Gagne

Central West Virginia is having an HIV crisis. In 2014 through 2019, West Virginia saw a 50% increase in HIV infections among intravenous drug users. The infection rate went from 12.5 percent to 64.2 percent.

The cases are focused largely around the capital, Charleston, which is in Kanawha County, and Huntington, an hour away to the west in Cabell County.

The CDC discovered these horrific numbers and presented them to the Kanawha County Commission in January. “It is possible the current case count represents the tip of the iceberg,” the CDC expert said.

Kanawha County has about 178,000 residents, and its infection numbers increased from 2 people in 2014 to at least 35 in 2019. That's almost as many as New York City had in 2019 for the same category of sufferers.

This sorry situation may be due in part to the cancellation of a needle-exchange program 2018. At this point, Charleston is considering restricting private needle-exchange programs as well. (Good timing, people!)

The County Commission asked Senator Manchin (D-WV) for help. Manchin sent a congressional inquiry to the CDC on Monday. We assume that this paperwork ballet is de rigueur for CDC involvement.

Rural areas throughout the country have been wracked by the opioid epidemic. An increase in intravenous drug use, however, suggests heroin, as if oxycontin users have moved on to harsher drugs.

Do you think other rural areas (in Maine, New Hampshire, Kentucky, etc.) that were hit by the OxyContin epidemic might also be suffering from high incidence of heroin use?

Isn’t a clean needle exchange program essential for West Virginia?

What else can be done for these people who are sick with HIV?

How about for other drug users in the area who aren’t HIV-positive?
https://apnews.com/article/public-health-rochelle-walensky-west-virginia-joe-manchin-charleston-4778eceb90cdc8c5a20a59a01192c760?fbclid=IwAR2w94Hra0EE3K3fEhPJDQLtfLK4UhSYJ7-_q-B5dWWznCVpwCD5NkIPsfw