Across multiple age categories, the rate of HIV infection in Indiana has remained relatively stable for the last five years of data available. However, an increasing number of Hoosiers in their 20s are contracting the virus.
The number of newly-diagnosed, HIV-positive Hoosiers in their twenties saw a nearly 40 percent increase from 2010 through 2014. That's even as the second-most diagnosed group – 30-something Hoosiers – saw an 11 percent decline in the number of new HIV cases since 2010.
But Jeremy Turner, Director of Development and Communication at the Damien Center, one of the state's largest AIDS service organizations, says the numbers don't surprise him.
He says the spike could be a result of increased testing in that demographic. He also says dating and hookup apps could be partially to blame.
"It just provides a whole new avenue where people can more easily connect with other folks and that's gonna lead to people having more partners which then increase their risk of getting STIS and HIV," Turner says.
Changing attitudes about HIV may also be a culprit. Turner says the disease is now seen more as a chronic condition and less as a death sentence, so people are less likely to be scared into taking preventative measures.
And Rural Center for Aids and STD Prevention Director William Yarber says younger adults, who often feel invincible, can be hard to reach.
"One of the biggest challenges we've had is to help people understand and integrate into their lifestyle is the fact that certain risk behaviors, no matter who you are, can put you at risk," Yarber says.
He says more emphasis is still needed on education, early diagnosis and treatment.
Indiana saw almost 40 percent more people in their twenties diagnosed with HIV in 2014 than it did in 2010, according to data from the State Health Department.
While the diagnosis rate for that demographic has gone up nationwide, the national increase is less than half of Indiana's.
What's more, all other Hoosier age groups have seen a decline in HIV incidence during the last five years.
Yarber says preventing disease in younger adults can be particularly difficult.
"A trait of younger people, of course, is they feel less vulnerable, they feel stronger, it's not going to happen to them. But of course behaviors are the key factor," he says.
Additionally, people in their twenties today grew up in a world after the 80s AIDS scare. The disease is now seen as a chronic condition rather than a life-threatening one.
But Turner says just because HIV isn't the death sentence it once was doesn't mean it doesn't severely disrupt lives. He says young people are particularly hit hard by the financial burdens of the disease.
"It can be anywhere from $800 to $18,000 dollars a month to pay for medications to treat HIV and so that's really something to consider," he says.
