6/30/2023 0 Comments Download kathleen switzerQualitative interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 34 persons who inject drugs to assess risk factors for HIV infection and with 19 clinicians and other stakeholders in Lawrence and Lowell to identify available medical and social services.Īs of June 30, 2018, a total of 129 persons meeting the case definition were identified 74 (57%) were male, 94 (73%) were aged 20–39 years at diagnosis, 87 (67%) were non-Hispanic white, and 38 (29%) were Hispanic. Cases were defined as diagnoses of HIV infection in northeastern Massachusetts during January 2015–May 2018 in 1) a person who injects drugs who received medical care, experienced homelessness, resided, or injected drugs in Lawrence or Lowell 2) a person who was epidemiologically linked as an injecting or sex partner of a person with HIV infection connected to Lawrence or Lowell or 3) a person with an HIV-1 pol nucleotide sequence molecularly linked at a genetic distance of ≤1.5% (as determined by pairwise sequence analysis) to that of another person in the investigation who was connected to Lawrence or Lowell. Investigators reviewed surveillance data and HIV-1 polymerase ( pol) gene nucleotide sequences derived from drug resistance testing and interviewed persons with HIV infection in northeastern Massachusetts. In 2018, MDPH and CDC conducted an investigation to characterize the outbreak and recommend control measures. Surveillance identified additional cases of HIV infection among such persons linked to Lawrence and Lowell, in northeastern Massachusetts, during 2016–2017. On average, less than one case per month among persons who inject drugs had been reported in Lawrence during 2014–2015 from all providers. In August 2016, however, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) received reports of five new HIV cases among persons who inject drugs from a single community health center in the City of Lawrence ( 2). From 2000 to 2014, the number of annual diagnoses of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Massachusetts declined 47% ( 1).
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