A complex increase in hepatitis C virus in a correctional facility: bumps in the road

A complex increase in hepatitis C virus in a correctional facility: bumps in the road

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in correctional facilities in Australia among people who inject drugs is 60%, with disproportionate effects observed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Following the micro‐elimination of HCV in a Queensland correctional facility (QCF), newly ac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian and New Zealand journal of public health Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 377 - 381
Main Authors: Merone, Lea, Ashton, Sian, Harris, Andy, Edwards, Wanjibung Shaun, Preston‐Thomas, Annie, Gair, Richard, Russell, Darren B.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Australia Elsevier B.V 01-06-2022
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Elsevier Limited
Elsevier
Subjects:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Abscesses
Age groups
Antibodies
Boredom
Correctional institutions
Drug use
Education
Health aspects
Health education
Health promotion
Health services
Health surveillance
Hepatitis
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C virus
Hygiene
Imprisonment
Infections
injecting drugs
Native peoples
Opioids
Personal hygiene
Population
prison
Prisoners
Prisons
Public health
Qualitative analysis
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Sexually transmitted diseases
Statistics
STD
Surveillance
Syringes
Tattoos
Viruses
Australia
Queensland Australia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
injecting drugs
prison
hepatitis C
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Summary:The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in correctional facilities in Australia among people who inject drugs is 60%, with disproportionate effects observed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Following the micro‐elimination of HCV in a Queensland correctional facility (QCF), newly acquired cases began to increase in mid‐2019. Here we discuss the public health response to increasing HCV in a QCF. Enhanced surveillance was performed to obtain contextual outbreak data on risk factors including injecting drug use, sharing of personal hygiene equipment and do‐it‐yourself‐tattooing. In the sixteen months, there were 250 notifications of new and re‐infected HCV infections in prisoners in the QCF. Qualitative data revealed the leading factor in transmission to be injecting drug use. Drivers for increased HCV transmission in correctional facilities include boredom, waiting lists for opioid substitution programs, changes in injecting behaviours and sharing of injecting paraphernalia. Point‐of‐care testing combined with education and the development of a needle and syringe program may be promising ways forward for managing HCV in correctional facilities. Correctional facilities are key locations to target sexually transmitted infection (STI) and blood‐borne virus (BBV) testing and treatment as well as health promotion to improve the health of inmates and the communities they return to.
Bibliography:The authors have stated they have no conflicts of interest.
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ISSN:1326-0200
1753-6405
DOI:10.1111/1753-6405.13238