Uptick in HIV among injecting drug users raises fears of a resurgent epidemic
Dr. Jennifer Brody, director of HIV services for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, speaks about the uptick in HIV rates among those injecting drugs.
The opioid epidemic is threatening to trigger a resurgence of HIV in Massachusetts, potentially undoing decades of work that had made the state a national leader in stopping the spread of the virus.
A sharp uptick in new HIV cases among injecting drug users, who often share needles, has raised worries among health officials. They fear Massachusetts could experience an outbreak like the 2015 calamity in rural Scott County, Indiana, where one person introduced the virus into a network of drug users, and within four months more than 180 had become infected.