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Syringe Exchange Still Divides Community At Center Of HIV Outbreak

It's been more than two years since HIV rapidly spread through the small town of Austin, resulting in an outbreak that shocked the nation.

Health officials diagnosed nearly 200 people with the virus within a year. They say it spread so quickly because people were shooting up a powerful prescription painkiller called Opana and sharing needles.

Like the people, the community is in recovery.

Health Officials: Syringe Exchange Stopped HIV Outbreak

A few blocks of a residential neighborhood in Austin is often referred to as the epicenter of Indiana's HIV outbreak. At the height of the public health crisis two years ago, there was constant foot traffic – people who neighbors say would do anything to find their next fix.

These days, it's quieter.

"We even had somebody at the local grocery store the other day we were just there and they were like ‘You know, we don't see those prostitutes like we used to,'" says Scott County Public Health Nurse Brittany Combs. "We're like, ‘Well, that's a good thing.'"

Combs helped start the state's first syringe exchange program in the wake of the outbreak. It was located just off Interstate 65, a couple miles outside of town,  but has since moved to a more accessible location – within walking distance for many of those who rely on the program.

Combs says they've handed out hundreds of thousands of needles, and gotten almost that many back.

"Our return rate, just so you know is, for last year it was 98 percent return rate, which CDC says is pretty much unheard of," Combs says. "Anything over 50 percent is good."

There are nearly 600 people signed up for the program. About one-third are regulars.

Combs sees Scott County's response to the HIV crisis as a success story. But perception of the program is still a problem.

Some Residents Still Believe Exchange Fuels Drug Problem

"To be honest with you, I'm firmly against the needle exchange program," says Scott County resident Brett Mayer. "I don't think it really solves anything. I think it just masks the issue at hand."

Mayer is one of many people in Scott County who's been personally touched by the drug epidemic.

"I've had three friends overdose in the last couple months," he says. "Close friends, people that I would consider family."

But Mayer says he doesn't have sympathy for those in the community who are battling addiction. He sees it as a mindset instead of a disease and says the needle exchange is only fueling the problem.

"They pull these people over and because they have this needle exchange card they can have 100 needles in their car or however many it may be," Mayer says. "It's just pathetic."

Clyde Polly shares the same opinion, even though some of his family members were directly impacted by the HIV outbreak.

"The authorities would probably say there's great change, but if there's any change at all it's very minimal," Polly says. "There's druggies everywhere, on every corner."

Polly says people in his neighborhood don't have much going for them. Unemployment in Scott County is higher than the state average. And, this area consistently comes in last in an annual county-by-county health ranking of Indiana. Polly says even if people want to leave Austin, many are stuck.

"It took us generations to get in it and it's going to take a long time to get out of it."

"This house is paid for," he says. "Be hard for me to pull up stakes and leave."

Combs says those types of negative comments are hard to hear. She's poured her heart and nearly all of her energy into trying to help the community she works in.

"It took us generations to get in it and it's going to take a long time to get out of it," Combs says.

She acknowledges there are areas that need improvement. There's still a drastic need for homeless shelters and stable housing in Austin, which makes the relapse rate high.

But, more people have healthcare coverage here than they did two years ago. Combs says the health department often goes weeks without diagnosing a new case of HIV – two years ago they were seeing just as many cases in one week as they would during an entire year.

Whether people like it or not, she says it's proof the syringe exchange is working.

"We have a lot of people who are in the program that are negative for HIV, still. They were negative two years ago and they're still negative now," she says. "That was our goal with the needle exchange, to stop the spread of disease, and we've done it."

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