Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission
Objective: Determine the incidence of hepatitis C virus antibodies among a cohort of prisoners. Design: Follow-up study of a random sample of prisoners who participated in a cross-sectional survey in 1996. Setting: 29 correctional centres in New South Wales (Australia). Participants: 181 adult priso...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Kluwer Academic Publishers
2004
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13777 |
| _version_ | 1848748436920205312 |
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| author | Butler, Tony Kariminia, A. Levy, M. Kaldor, J. |
| author_facet | Butler, Tony Kariminia, A. Levy, M. Kaldor, J. |
| author_sort | Butler, Tony |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objective: Determine the incidence of hepatitis C virus antibodies among a cohort of prisoners. Design: Follow-up study of a random sample of prisoners who participated in a cross-sectional survey in 1996. Setting: 29 correctional centres in New South Wales (Australia). Participants: 181 adult prisoners (163 men and 18 women). Results: The incidence of hepatitis C virus antibody among the 90 inmates who were seronegative at the first test in 1996 was 7.1 per 100 person-years (16 seroconverters). Among the 90 inmates, 37 had re-entered the prison system following release into the community and 53 had been continuously detained. The seroconversion rate was higher among the re-entrants compared with those who had been continuously incarcerated (10.8 vs. 4.5 per 100 person-years, p=0.07). However, when the data was stratified by injecting status, the seroconversion rate in the two groups was similar. Most of the seroconverters had histories of injecting drug users (14/16). The overall incidence among injectors was 19.3 per 100 person years (95% CI: 9.1–29.2). Conclusions: Hepatitis C transmission occurs inside the prison with injecting drug use the likely cause. Among non-injectors, tattooing was the most likely mode of transmission. Harm minimisation measures with proven effectiveness need to be considered for this environment. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:05:01Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-13777 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:05:01Z |
| publishDate | 2004 |
| publisher | Kluwer Academic Publishers |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-137772017-09-13T15:54:45Z Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission Butler, Tony Kariminia, A. Levy, M. Kaldor, J. Objective: Determine the incidence of hepatitis C virus antibodies among a cohort of prisoners. Design: Follow-up study of a random sample of prisoners who participated in a cross-sectional survey in 1996. Setting: 29 correctional centres in New South Wales (Australia). Participants: 181 adult prisoners (163 men and 18 women). Results: The incidence of hepatitis C virus antibody among the 90 inmates who were seronegative at the first test in 1996 was 7.1 per 100 person-years (16 seroconverters). Among the 90 inmates, 37 had re-entered the prison system following release into the community and 53 had been continuously detained. The seroconversion rate was higher among the re-entrants compared with those who had been continuously incarcerated (10.8 vs. 4.5 per 100 person-years, p=0.07). However, when the data was stratified by injecting status, the seroconversion rate in the two groups was similar. Most of the seroconverters had histories of injecting drug users (14/16). The overall incidence among injectors was 19.3 per 100 person years (95% CI: 9.1–29.2). Conclusions: Hepatitis C transmission occurs inside the prison with injecting drug use the likely cause. Among non-injectors, tattooing was the most likely mode of transmission. Harm minimisation measures with proven effectiveness need to be considered for this environment. 2004 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13777 10.1007/s10654-004-1705-9 Kluwer Academic Publishers restricted |
| spellingShingle | Butler, Tony Kariminia, A. Levy, M. Kaldor, J. Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission |
| title | Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission |
| title_full | Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission |
| title_fullStr | Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission |
| title_short | Prisoners are a risk for hepatitis C transmission |
| title_sort | prisoners are a risk for hepatitis c transmission |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13777 |