Andrew A. Adjei|Henry B. Armah|Foster Gbagbo|William Ampofo|Isaac Boamah|Clement Adu-Gyamfi|Isaac Asare|I.F.A. Hesse|George Mensah
Correlates of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections among prison inmates and officers in Ghana: A national multicenter study
University of Ghana|University of Ghana|University of Ghana|Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research|University of Ghana|University of Ghana|University of Ghana|University of Ghana|University of Ghana|University of Ghana
prisons known highrisk environments spread bloodborne sexually transmitted infections prison officers considered intermittent exposure potential bloodborne infectious diseases job however studies prevalence infections prison officers ghanaa national multicenter crosssectional study undertaken correlates human immunodeficiency virus hiv hepatitis b virus hbv hepatitis c virus hcv syphilis infections sample prison inmates officers eight ten regional central prisons ghana total 1366 inmates 445 officers enrolled may 2004 december 2005 subjects completed personal riskfactor questionnaire provided blood specimens unlinked anonymous testing presence antibodies hiv hcv treponema pallidum surface antigen hbv hbsag data analyzed using univariate multivariate techniquesalmost 18 1336 7652 eligible inmates 21 445 2139 eligible officers eight study prisons took part median ages inmates officers 365 years range 1684 381 years range 2559 respectively among inmates hiv seroprevalence 59 syphilis seroprevalence 165 255 hbsag among officers tested hiv seroprevalence 49 hcv seroprevalence 187 syphilis seroprevalence 79 117 hbsag independent determinants hiv hbv syphilis infections among inmates age 1746 unmarried illiterate female gender incarcerated longer median time served 36 months history homosexuality history intravenous drug use history sharing syringes drug paraphernalia history participation paid sexual activity history sexually transmitted diseases independent determinants hiv hbv hcv syphilis infections among officers age 2546 fale gender unmarried employed prison service longer median duration employment 10 years history sexually transmitted diseasesthe comparably higher prevalence hiv hbv hcv syphilis prison inmates officers ghana suggests probable occupational related transmission implementation infection control practices risk reduction programs targeted prison inmates officers ghana urgently required address substantial exposure risk