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. 2021 Jun 16;21(1):584.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-021-06286-2.

Viral hepatitis in correctional facilities in the Northern Territory of Australia 2003-2017

Richard P Sullivan  1   2   3   4 , Rob Baird  5   6 , Kevin Freeman  6 , Hugh Heggie  7 , Joshua S Davis  8   9 , Catherine S Marshall  5 , Jane Davies  8   5
Affiliations

Viral hepatitis in correctional facilities in the Northern Territory of Australia 2003-2017

Richard P Sullivan et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The demographic of Northern Territory prison population differs than elsewhere in Australia and the prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C may therefore be somewhat different from other jurisdictions. There has been no study which has specifically described the serological results of a large proportion of prisoners in Northern Territory correctional facilities over an extended period of time.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study reviewed serological results and testing rates for hepatitis B, and hepatitis C performed in correctional facilities in the Northern Territory of Australia between July 1st, 2003 and June 30th, 2017.

Results: The proportion of positive records over 14 years for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was 641/12,066 (5.3, 95% CI 4.9-5.7), for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) 4937/12,138 (40.1, 95%CI 39.8-41.6), for hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) 6966/13,303 (52.4, 95% CI 51.5-53.2), and for hepatitis C antibody 569/12,153 (4.7, 95% CI 4.3-5.1). The proportion of prisoners tested for hepatitis B and hepatitis C has decreased since 2015, while a high proportion of prisoners remain non-immune to hepatitis B.

Conclusion: There is a relatively high proportion of positive serological markers of hepatitis B, and a lower proportion of positive hepatitis C serology in the Northern Territory's correctional facilities compared to overall Australian rates. As the proportion of prisoners tested for hepatitis B and C has decreased recently, and a high proportion of prisoners remain non-immune to hepatitis B, there are opportunities to increase testing and vaccination rates in this population.

Keywords: Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Northern Territory; Prisoner health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Total number for serology for HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and hepatitis C in NT correctional facilities 2003–2017. *22,397 were a part of a complete hepatitis B serology, which were used for the complete hepatitis B serology calculations. There were 19,930 unique complete hepatitis B serology tests when duplicates tests were removed within each year
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Positive serological markers of hepatitis B and C in correctional facilities of the Northern Territory 2003–2017. *Missing data between 2007 and 2010 as serological testing was performed at another pathology provider (other than Territory Pathology) and we did not have access to the results from this provider
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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