Imprisonment, injecting drug use, and bloodborne viruses

BMJ 1995;310:275-276 (4 February)

Editorials

Imprisonment, injecting drug use, and bloodborne viruses

A threat of transmission but an opportunity for prevention

The possibility that imprisonment is a risk factor for HIV transmissionhas been much debated, even though the association between imprisonment,use of injecting drugs, and the transmission of another bloodbornevirus, hepatitis B, was recognised more than 20 years ago.¹In the past five years, clusters of cases of acute hepatitisB infection inimprisoned men in England and Wales have beenregularly reported to Public Health Laboratory Service CommunicableDisease Surveillance Centre. Nearly a fifth of 258 infectionsin known male adult injecting drug users reported in this timewere diagnosed in prison.

Many injecting drug users have been imprisoned, and for somethis will have been a repeated experience.² In England and Walesin any year, an estimated 15 000 prisoners³--or between onein 13 and one in seven prisoners⁴--will have a history of injectingdrug use. . . . [Full text of this article]

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Testing in prison is uncommon: Helen Maguire, Karl Birthistle, David Carrington, and Tom McManus
BMJ 1995 310: 1265. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Gore, S. M, Bird, A G., Ross, A. J (1996). Prison rights: mandatory drugs tests and performance indicators for prisons. BMJ 312: 1411-1413 [Full text]
Gore, S. M, Bird, A G., Ross, A. J (1996). Prison rights: mandatory drugs tests and performance indicators for prisons. BMJ 312: 1411a-1413 [Full text]
Muller, R, Stark, K, Guggenmoos-Holzmann, I (1995). High risk behaviour is common in prisons in Berlin. BMJ 310: 1264a-1264 [Full text]
Maguire, H., Birthistle, K., Carrington, D., McManus, T. (1995). Testing in prison is uncommon. BMJ 310: 1265a-1265 [Full text]