Opioid Use Fueling HIV Transmission in an Urban Setting: An Outbreak of HIV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs-Massachusetts, 2015-2018.

Objectives. To describe and control an outbreak of HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID).Methods. The investigation included people diagnosed with HIV infection during 2015 to 2018 linked to 2 cities in northeastern Massachusetts epidemiologically or through molecular analysis. Field activities included qualitative interviews regarding service availability and HIV risk behaviors.Results. We identified 129 people meeting the case definition; 116 (90%) reported injection drug use. Molecular surveillance added 36 cases to the outbreak not otherwise linked. The 2 largest molecular groups contained 56 and 23 cases. Most interviewed PWID were homeless. Control measures, including enhanced field epidemiology, syringe services programming, and community outreach, resulted in a significant decline in new HIV diagnoses.Conclusions. We illustrate difficulties with identification and characterization of an outbreak of HIV infection among a population of PWID and the value of an intensive response.Public Health Implications. Responding to and preventing outbreaks requires ongoing surveillance, with timely detection of increases in HIV diagnoses, community partnerships, and coordinated services, all critical to achieving the goal of the national Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.

Factors associated with help seeking by community responders trained in overdose prevention and naloxone administration in Massachusetts.

BACKGROUND: Community overdose responders do not always seek help from emergency services when administering naloxone. We aimed to identify responder, overdose event, and community characteristics associated with help seeking from emergency services during overdoses reported by Massachusetts Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) enrollees, and to assess trends in help seeking over time. METHODS: We analyzed overdose reports submitted between 2007 and 2017 to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. We used logistic regression, stratified by responder drug use status, to assess associations of characteristics with help seeking during an overdose. RESULTS: From January 2007 through December 2017, there were 69,870 OEND enrollees. 5,588 enrollees reported 10,246 overdoses. Help seeking was more likely among responders who did not use drugs. Among responders who did not use drugs, help seeking was more likely when: the responder was older or female, the victim was a stranger or client, and when naloxone did not work. Among responders who used drugs, help seeking was more likely when: the responder was female or had not previously reported responding to an overdose, the victim was a stranger or client or did not use fentanyl, naloxone took a longer time to work, and when the overdose was public or occurred more recently. The percentage of overdoses where help seeking occurred reached a maximum in 2016 at 50%. CONCLUSIONS: Help seeking by OEND enrollees was significantly associated with several responder, victim, and event characteristics. Targeted interventions to promote help seeking are warranted, particularly as the lethality of opioid supplies rises.

Characteristics of Fentanyl Overdose - Massachusetts, 2014-2016.

Opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts increased 150% from 2012 to 2015 (1). The proportion of opioid overdose deaths in the state involving fentanyl, a synthetic, short-acting opioid with 50-100 times the potency of morphine, increased from 32% during 2013-2014 to 74% in the first half of 2016 (1-3). In April 2015, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and CDC reported an increase in law enforcement fentanyl seizures in Massachusetts, much of which was believed to be illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) (4). To guide overdose prevention and response activities, in April 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner collaborated with CDC to investigate the characteristics of fentanyl overdose in three Massachusetts counties with high opioid overdose death rates. In these counties, medical examiner charts of opioid overdose decedents who died during October 1, 2014-March 31, 2015 were reviewed, and during April 2016, interviews were conducted with persons who used illicit opioids and witnessed or experienced an opioid overdose. Approximately two thirds of opioid overdose decedents tested positive for fentanyl on postmortem toxicology. Evidence for rapid progression of fentanyl overdose was common among both fatal and nonfatal overdoses. A majority of interview respondents reported successfully using multiple doses of naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose, to reverse suspected fentanyl overdoses. Expanding and enhancing existing opioid overdose education and prevention programs to include fentanyl-specific messaging and practices could help public health authorities mitigate adverse effects associated with overdoses, especially in communities affected by IMF.

4th generation HIV screening in Massachusetts: a partnership between laboratory and program.

BACKGROUND: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's (MDPH) Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) and Hinton State Laboratory Institute (HSLI) have offered HIV screening since 1985. Point-of-care screening and serum collection for laboratory-based testing is conducted at clinic and non-clinic-based sites across Massachusetts as part of an integrated communicable disease screening intervention. OBJECTIVES AND PROJECT DESIGN: MDPH aimed to transition to a 4th generation HIV screening-based algorithm for testing all serum specimens collected at OHA-funded programs and submitted to the HSLI to detect acute HIV infections, detect and differentiate HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections, eliminate indeterminate results, reduce cost and turnaround time, and link newly diagnosed HIV+ individuals to care. The HSLI and OHA created a joint project management team to plan and lead the transition. RESULTS: The laboratory transitioned successfully to a 4th generation screening assay as part of a revised diagnostic algorithm. In the 12 months since implementation, a total of 7984 serum specimens were tested with 258 (3.2%) positive for HIV-1 and one positive for HIV-2. Eight were reported as acute HIV-1 infections. These individuals were linked to medical care and partner services in a timely manner. Turnaround time was reduced and the laboratory realized an overall cost savings of approximately 15%. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of eight acute HIV infections in the first year underscores the importance of using the most sensitive screening tests available. A multi-disciplinary program and laboratory team was critical to the success of the transition, and the lessons learned may be useful for other jurisdictions.

Diffusion of effective HIV prevention interventions--lessons from Maryland and Massachusetts.

This article describes, compares, and contrasts the contexts, processes, and results of the experiences of Maryland and Massachusetts in diffusing evidence-based interventions. The evolution of first Maryland's, then Massachusetts's, diffusion of effective interventions is described. Both states have extensive experience planning, developing and evaluating individual-, group-, and community-level interventions promoted in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) initiative, as well as overcoming many barriers to translate research to practice. This article describes the processes whereby effective interventions were diffused from the planning to evaluation stages. This includes the role of community-planning groups and other local stakeholders in planning, procurement methods, and capacity building approaches. Specific milestones in increasing the evidence basis of program implementation, management, and evaluation are presented. For jurisdictions considering implementing DEBI, the article illustrates core programmatic and infrastructure capacities at the state and vendor level important to success in Maryland and Massachusetts. It also describes how each state's approach to the management and evaluation of prevention programs contributed to the effective diffusion of the behavioral interventions. Finally, this article provides recommendations about remaining gaps in evidence-based interventions to meet "real-world prevention needs" and ways to improve prevention targeting and effectiveness. This article recommends strategies to improve the dissemination of DEBI and other evidence-based interventions nationally.