ANDERSON – The needle exchange program implemented last year in Madison County to stem the spread of hepatitis C has grown through the first five months.
Stephanie Grimes, public health coordinator for the Madison County Health Department, told Board of Health members on Wednesday, the number of people participating in the program has doubled in each month since October.
Madison County is one of three counties that were approved by the Indiana State Department of Health to exchange needles for drug users in the hope of slowing the spread of hepatitis C and HIV.
Both infections can be contracted by contact with the blood of an infected person. Health officials said the hepatitis C and HIV infections are a result of needle sharing by drug users.
The Madison County program is being used as a model for programs that are starting in Howard and Wayne counties.
Mark Linderman, environmental supervisor for the Wayne County Health Department, said Friday that Wayne and Madison counties are similar in size and the issues being dealt with.
“The Madison County program was a good starting point” to use as guidelines, he said.
Linderman said Wayne County has 179 hepatitis C cases per 100,000 of population, which is significantly higher than the state average.
“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed,” he said. “We are working on submitting our plan to the state to be certified and hope to have it operating in a few months.”
Grimes said from August through December the Madison County Health Department has seen 32 participants and 40 visits to the needle exchange sites.
The Health Department has distributed 8,612 syringes and had 1,191 syringes returned, she said.
Grimes said of those participating in the program 77.5 percent were tested for hepatitis C and five new positive tests were detected.
She said 6 percent of the participants were tested for HIV and there were no positive tests found. Three percent of the participants reported already having HIV.
For 2014, the county had 135 investigations for people with hepatitis C and that number increased to 211 in 2015.
In 2013, Madison County identified 70 new cases of hepatitis C.
The Health Department is relying on people who called to be a participant in the needle exchange program to bring in other people.