title: Viral hepatitis B, C and HIV infection in Croatian prisons.
abstract: Incarcerated persons comprise about 0.4% of the Croatian population, of whom 25-30% misuse drugs. We attempted to determine the structure of the prison population, prevalence of HBV, HCV, HIV markers, co-infections with HBV, HCV and HIV and acute HBV, HCV and HIV infection. In total, 25.9% of prisoners were positive for some markers for viral hepatitis (HBV 11.3%, HCV 8.3%, HBV/HCV 6.3%). Prevalence of HBV infection in intravenous drug users (IDUs) was 26.2% (highly promiscuous group 20.4%, individuals with psychiatric diseases and personality disorders 16.0%). HCV infection in IDUs was 52.0% and 4.9% in the highly promiscuous group. HBV/HCV co-infection was registered in 34.9% of prisoners positive for HBV markers (203/582). Acute HBV infection was detected in 0.5%, and HCV in 1.2%. Only 0.15% (5/3348) of prisoners were anti-HIV positive. It appears that individuals with psychiatric diseases and personality disorders could be an additional risk population for these viral infections.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia. vitomir.burek@zg.htnet.hr
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Burek
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Horvat
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Butorac
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mikulić
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011330:Prisons; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral