S. Indiana HIV cases linked to needle-sharing up to 27

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana health officials say the number of people in five southern Indiana counties testing positive for HIV through needle-sharing among painkiller abusers has grown by one to 27.

The Indiana State Department of Health announced Friday there are 10 others with preliminary HIV-positive status.

The agency on Wednesday announced that Clark, Jackson, Perry, Scott and Washington counties had 26 confirmed cases and four preliminary positive cases.

The agency says most of those infected had shared needles while injecting a liquefied form of the painkiller Opana, a prescription drug that's more potent per milligram than Oxycontin. A small number of the HIV cases were linked to unprotected sex, which is the chief way the virus is spread.

Deputy State Health Commissioner Jennifer Walthall calls it "a complex and fast moving outbreak."