Nearly half of Northern Kentucky HIV infections in 2017 came from injection drug use

State and local public health officials on Tuesday reported a sharp increase in the number of Northern Kentucky residents who contracted HIV in 2017 as the result of injecting drugs. There were 37 new cases of HIV reported last year in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, a number higher than in 2015 or 2016. But the more alarming change for public health officials is that 18 of those new cases were reported by people who injected drugs. That’s more than three times the number of HIV cases linked to injection drug use than the region typically sees.