HIV infections up 219 percent in Boulder County

HIV infections in Boulder County are rising in a drastic, alarming trend.

In 2015, 16 people in Boulder County were newly diagnosed with HIV, raising the incidence rate to 5.1 per 100,000 people. And although the number is still less than the state HIV rate of 6.8 per 100,000, the trend is enough to worry Boulder County AIDS Project, as the rest of the state’s rates stay at a constant or decrease.

While gay men are still the population with the greatest risk of acquiring HIV, the data show that Hispanics in Boulder County are also at a disproportionately high risk of infection. No infections were known to be associated with injection drug use. New infections occurred in all age groups.

“This is an unsettling trend,” said Ana Hopperstad, Executive Director of Boulder County AIDS Project, in a press release “At a time when funding for HIV prevention strategies addressing behavioral risk factors and community engagement is being redirected to medical interventions like Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP, the increase in HIV infection rates in Boulder County is a clear sign that prevention through risk reduction counseling and harm reduction is still needed.”

“The fact that we haven’t seen new HIV infections from sharing needles is a good sign that our syringe access program is helping to prevent the spread of HIV among people who inject drugs,” said Carol Helwig, Boulder County Public Health Communicable Disease Control and HIV Prevention Coordinator. “But, the dramatic increase in infections makes it clear that we need to do more to help all members of our community understand why getting tested is so important.”