RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C virus infections among inmates of Quebec provincial prisons
JF Canadian Medical Association Journal
JO CMAJ
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP 252
OP 256
DO 10.1503/cmaj.060760
VO 177
IS 3
A1 Céline Poulin, MSc
A1 Michel Alary, MD PhD
A1 Gilles Lambert MD
A1 Gaston Godin, PhD
A1 Suzanne Landry, MA
A1 Hélène Gagnon, MA
A1 Éric Demers, MSc
A1 Elena Morarescu, MD MSc
A1 Jean Rochefort, MSc
A1 Christiane Claessens, MSc
YR 2007
UL http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/3/252.abstract
AB Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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%. Interpretation: 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.