Appalachia gripped by hepatitis C epidemic, bracing for HIV

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Appalachia gripped by hepatitis C epidemic, bracing for HIV

By Claire Galofaro | AP June 4 at 4:40 AM

HAZARD, Ky. — Patton Couch shook his head and clenched his teeth, recounting the night four years ago when he plucked a dirty needle from a pile at a flophouse and jabbed it into his scarred arm.
....

Two-hundred miles north, Scott County, Indiana, is grappling with one of the worst American HIV outbreaks among injection drug users in decades. Kentucky, with the nation’s highest rate of acute hepatitis C, might be just a few dirty needles away from a similar catastrophe.

“One person could be Typhoid Mary of HIV,” said Dr. Jennifer Havens, an epidemiologist at the University of Kentucky’s Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, who has studied Perry County drug users for years as the hepatitis rate spiraled through small-town drug circles there. An explosion of hepatitis C, transmitted through injection drug use and unprotected sex, can foreshadow a wave of HIV cases.

In a study last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that hepatitis C cases across four Appalachian states — Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia — more than tripled between 2006 and 2012. Kentucky leads the nation in the rate of acute hepatitis C, with 4.1 cases for every 100,000 residents, more than six times the national average, according to the CDC. ... Havens has tracked 503 drug users since 2008. Now 70 percent of them have hepatitis C.

[kentuck]

1. That is terrible news.

I know there is a lot of homelessness and drug use there. Along with the joblessness, it is a recipe for disaster.

The drug use has graduated from oxycontin to cooking under the bridges.

I have a lot of relatives that still live in that area.

[Sunlei]

2. these states refused to hand out clean needles and stopped old programs who did.

[Agschmid]

3. Yup, bad mistake IMO.

[hatrack]

5. Because Jeezus and Freedom, I'm sure

And now, "oops!", to quote Gov. Cementhead.

[peecoolyour]

4. There's a lot of suffering in Appalachia,

but we aren't part of the "Obama coalition," so Democrats don't give a shit...

And Republicans pretend to give a shit by saying what we need is less regulations and taxes and more coal mining for us to thrive. Yeah, fuck them.

If the entire region died out, it'd take at least a week for anyone to notice and it'd only be because someone came to one of our towns looking to exploit us for more of our natural resources.

[Volaris]

7. I would bet Berne does

And if he's willing to go down there ( again, I bet he is) and tell people 'you actually DONT have to live the way Peabody coal says u have to' he will win the biggest landslide in modern history.
they want someone who doesn't just 'feel their pain', but knows how to believe in them, and affect positive progress in their lives.

[totodeinhere]

12. Bernie has already said that he plans to engage in a 50 state strategy.

He will be engaged in what are normally considered red states and I am predicting that he will turn out to be more popular in places like that than many people think. And one benefit of the top of our ticket paying attention to red states is that it will help down ticket Democrats. And that is sorely needed in red states.

[project_bluebook]

10. it seems that Appalachia has always been treated like a red-headed stepchild

FDR's New Deal did improve things put exploitation and reaganomics has pretty much screwed the region.

[mountain grammy]

11. I'm sorry to say, I think you're right about that.

The rural poor are unseen and forgotten by most. America is a cold, hard place. Exploitation is part of our history and exceptionalism, you know.

[safeinOhio]

6. If you bury your head in the sand,

get ready to run over by a dune buggy.

[Enthusiast]

9. Good one. All your money belongs to the military.

[JDPriestly]

8. Depression, hopeless jobs, no future, no cultural life. What can we expect.