A Wisconsin health study

• Published in: Corrections today Vol. 79; no. 4; p. 42
• Main Authors: Greer, James, Wedig, Mary, Prieve, Audrey, Stockman, Lauren J
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lanham American Correctional Association, Incorporated 01.07.2017
• Subjects: Baby boomers; Disease control; Disease prevention; Health services; Hepatitis; Hepatology; Imprisonment; Prisoners; Prisons; Wisconsin
• ISSN: 0190-2563

Identifying chronic HCV infection in baby-boomer inmates n estimated 3.5 million people in the U.S. are living with hepatitis C virus (HCV), the leading cause of liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma.1 Prevalence of HCV in U.S. prisons is up to 20 times higher than in the general population.2 Liver disease was the third-ranking cause of death among the U.S. prison population in 2012 and has been associated with rising death rates after incarceration.3 Highly effective treatment is available and can prevent HCVrelated morbidity and mortality, and HCV treatment in the prison population has been demonstrated as cost-effective to society.4 Based on national data that people born from 1945-1965, or baby boomers, account for the majority of HCV infections and HCV-associated deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued recommendations in 2012 calling for a one-time HCV test in this age group. In 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) conducted an evaluation and found 25 percent of baby-boomer prison entrants to have evidence of HCV infection (HCV antibody positive); this was the highest rate compared to 13 percent of those born between 19661984 and 8 percent of those born in 1985 or after.5 Furthermore, one-third of baby-boomer entrants did not have previous record of HCV infection in the statewide surveillance system, indicating the first time they were diagnosed with HCV was at intake to prison.6 As a result of the evaluation, beginning in 2015, WDOC added "birth year during 1945-1965" to...