Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C virus infections among inmates of Quebec provincial prisons

• Published in: Canadian Medical Association journal (CMAJ) Vol. 177; no. 3; pp. 252 - 256
• Main Authors: Poulin, Céline, Alary, Michel, Lambert, Gilles, Godin, Gaston, Landry, Suzanne, Gagnon, Hélène, Demers, Eric, Morarescu, Elena, Rochefort, Jean, Claessens, Christiane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada CMA Impact Inc 31.07.2007; CMA Impact, Inc; Canadian Medical Association
• Subjects: Adult; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease transmission; Diseases; Drug use; Female; Health aspects; Hepatitis; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Hepatitis C virus; HIV; HIV infection; HIV Infections - epidemiology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Male; Needle-Exchange Programs; Prevalence; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Prevention; Prisoners; Prisons; Prisons - statistics & numerical data; Public health; Quebec - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Risk-Taking; Sex Distribution; Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Statistics; Studies; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Quebec; Canada; Quebec Canada; Canada, Quebec
• ISSN: 0820-3946; 1488-2329
• DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.060760

To determine the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and examine risk factors for these infections among inmates in Quebec provincial prisons. Anonymous cross-sectional data were collected from January to June 2003 for men (n = 1357) and women (n = 250) who agreed to participate in the study and who completed a self-administrated questionnaire and provided saliva samples. The prevalence of HIV infection was 2.3% among the male participants and 8.8% among the female participants. The corresponding prevalence of HCV infection was 16.6% and 29.2%, respectively. The most important risk factor was injection drug use. The prevalence of HIV infection was 7.2% among the male injection drug users and 0.5% among the male non-users. Among the women, the rate was 20.6% among the injection drug users, whereas none of the non-users was HIV positive. The prevalence of HCV infection was 53.3% among the male injection drug users and 2.6% among the male non-users; the corresponding values among the women were 63.6% and 3.5%. HIV and HCV infections constitute an important public health problem in prison, where the prevalence is affected mainly by a high percentage of injection drug use among inmates.