Another person has tested positive for HIV in Penobscot County, raising the total number of cases associated with the outbreak to 30, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly all of the people affected by the outbreak have reported injecting drugs or being homeless within one year of their diagnosis, according to the Maine CDC. The outbreak began in October 2023.
This is the second new HIV case reported since July. Public health officials have emphasized that the actual number of cases in the outbreak is likely higher than what’s been detected.
The report comes as Bangor begins its new HIV case management program, which is funded with money from opioid settlements.
The Bangor City Council also approved a zoning change Monday that will allow Needlepoint Sanctuary, one of the city’s two syringe service providers, to reopen its 1009 Ohio St. office. Advocates have stressed that providing clean needles is essential for preventing the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. The organization plans to start offering services there Nov. 6 at 12 p.m., according to a Facebook post.
HIV attacks a person’s immune system and interferes with their body’s ability to fight off infection and disease, according to the CDC. There is no known cure, although there is medication that can control the disease.
Penobscot County typically has two new HIV cases per year, according to the Maine CDC.
Nearly all of the reported cases in Penobscot County are in people who also tested positive for hepatitis C, the Maine CDC reported.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease that can be a mild, short-term illness in some people but cause more serious, long-term issues in others, including liver cancer, according to the CDC.
Sixty-seven percent of HIV patients in the Penobscot County outbreak were connected to care within 30 days of their diagnosis, and 56% of the cases currently living in Maine had reached viral suppression at their last test, the Maine CDC reported.
