INHSU Prisons bibliography 2022

Each year, the INHSU Prisons Special Interest Group Executive Committee puts together a list of outstanding and special interest publications for those interested in hepatitis C elimination in correctional settings.

2022’s list is now available and the INHSU Prisons Executive Committee would like to congratulate everyone included for their commitment to producing exceptional research in correctional settings globally. 

View the chosen articles below, or download an excel spreadsheet here.

Hepatitis C Virus Reinfection Following Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatment in the Prison Setting: The SToP-C Study

Joanne M Carson, Gregory J Dore, Andrew R Lloyd, Jason Grebely, Marianne Byrne, Evan Cunningham, Janaki Amin, Peter Vickerman, Natasha K Martin, Carla Treloar, Marianne Martinello, Gail V Matthews, Behzad Hajarizadeh.

Summary: This analysis of the hepatitis C reinfection rate in the SToP-C study revealed a disconcertingly high incidence of 12.5% per annum associated with recent injecting drug use and needle/syringe sharing. Although this finding was nested within the overall positive outcome of the study, which showed that scale-up of treatment was effective in prevention (TasP) it highlights the need for improved harm reduction beyond opioid agonist therapy, which is already in place in the Australian prisons.

Care Navigation Increases Initiation of Hepatitis C Treatment After Release From Prison in a Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial: The C-LINK Study

Timothy Papaluca, Anne Craigie, Lucy McDonald, Amy Edwards, Rebecca Winter, Annabelle Hoang, Alex Pappas, Aoife Waldron, Kelsey McCoy, Mark Stoove, Joseph Doyle, Margaret Hellard, Jacinta Holmes, Michael MacIsaac, Paul Desmond, David Iser, Alexander J Thompson.

Summary: This prospective randomised controlled trial in Melbourne, Australia, compared a hepatitis C care navigator intervention versus standard of care for individuals released from prison with diagnosed but untreated hepatitis C infection examining DAA treatment uptake as the outcome. Sixteen of the 22 participants (73%) randomized to care navigation commenced treatment within 6 months, compared with 8 of 24 participants (33%) in the standard-of-care arm (P = .01)

Prison-Based Interventions Are Key to Achieving HCV Elimination Among People Who Inject Drugs in New South Wales, Australia: A Modelling Study

Jack Stone, Aaron G. Lim, Gregory J. Dore, Annick Borquez, Louise Geddes, Richard Gray, Jason Grebely, Bezhad Hajarizadeh, Jenny Iversen, Lisa Maher, Heather Valerio, Natasha K. Martin, Matthew Hickman, Andrew R. Lloyd, Peter Vickerman.

Summary: A dynamic, deterministic model of incarceration and HCV transmission among current PWID was used to estimate the contribution of imprisonment to overall incidence in New South Wales, Australia. It was estimated that over 10 years 23% of new HCV infections were attributable to imprisonment. If current HCV treatment rates in both prisons and community continued, the model estimated that there is a 99% probability that elimination targets for the state will be achieved by 2030, but without the prisons the probability decreased to 10%.

Hepatitis C prevalence in incarcerated settings between 2013-2021: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Dana Busschots, Cécile Kremer, Rob Bielen, Özgür M. Koc, Leen Heyens, Frederik Nevens, Niel Hens, and Geert Robaeys.

Summary: This systematic review of the prevalence of HCV in custodial settings identified data from 36 countries, and revealed widely varied rates of HCV antibody positivity (0.3% to 74.4%) and HCV RNA (0% to 56.3%), reflecting variations in the proportions of males, people who inject drugs and region.

Hepatitis C Testing and Linkage to Care Among Adults on Probation in a Large US City

Kevin F Kamis, David L Wyles, Matthew S Minturn, Tracy Scott, Dean McEwen, Hermione Hurley, Scott J Prendergast, Sarah E Rowan.

Summary: This study describes a model of care with on-site point of care HCV antibody and RNA testing followed by care navigation to facilitate antiviral tretament for those attending a probation and parole service (community corrections) in Denver, Colorado. The study cohort had a higher HCV seroprevalence than the general population (13% vs 2%), but linkage to care, completion of HCV treatment, and successful test-of-cure rates were all low.

Modelling the contribution of incarceration and public health oriented drug law reform to HCV transmission and elimination among PWID in Tijuana, Mexico

Carlos D Rivera Saldana, Leo Beletsky, Annick Borquez, Susan M.Kiene, Lara K.Marquez, Steffanie A.Strathdee, María Luisa Zúñiga, Javier Cepeda, Natasha K. Martin

Summary: A dynamic, deterministic model of incarceration, HCV transmission and disease progression among PWID in Tijuana, Mexico is reported. The model estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) of incarceration to incidence (i.e the proprotion of incident infections potentially linked to imprisonment) of 5.4%, and estimated that OAT and decriminalisation could reduce HCV incidence rate by 10.6% across 10 years.

Identifying barriers and enablers to opt-out hepatitis C virus screening in provincial prisons in Quebec, Canada: A multilevel, multi-theory informed qualitative study with correctional and healthcare professional stakeholders

Ana Saavedra Ruiz, Guillaume Fontaine, Andrea M. Patey, Jeremy M. Grimshaw, Justin Presseau, Joseph Cox, Camille Dussault, Nadine Kronfli

Summary: This qualitative investigation of barriers and enablers for hepatitis C care in the prisons in Quebec, Canada, revealed multiple political, structural, and organizational factors which should be addressed through the engagement of corrections and health stakeholders as well as people with lived experience of incarceration.

The Importance of Prisons in Achieving Hepatitis C Elimination: Insights from the Australian Experience

Rebecca J. Winter, Jacinta A. Holmes, Timothy J. Papaluca, Alexander J. Thompson

Summary: In this policy perspective, the Australian authors argue that the scale-up of hepatitis C prevention, testing, and treatment programs in prisons, along with the investigation of new and adapted approaches (such as point of care testing and integrated harm reduction), is critical to achieving WHO elimination goals.

Hepatitis C treatment as prevention in the prison setting: Assessments of acceptability of treatment scale up efforts by prison correctional and health personnel

Lise Lafferty, Jake Rance, Jason Grebely, Andrew Lloyd, Carla Treloar, SToP-C Study Group

Summary: This qualitative investigation linked to the SToP-C study assessed correctional and healthcare providers perspectives on scale-up of DAA treatment as prevention (TasP). Both groups widely regarded the intervention as acceptable, contributing to reduced HCV prevalence within the prison, and public health benefits for the community at large.

Brief Report: HCV Universal Test-and-Treat With Direct Acting Antivirals for Prisoners With or Without HIV: A Prison Health Care Workers-Led Model for HCV Microelimination in Thailand

Ruamthip Supanan, Win Min Han, Weerakit Harnpariphan, Thornthun Ueaphongsukkit, Sasiwimol Ubolyam, Jiratchaya Sophonphan, Pisit Tangkijvanich, Sombat Thanprasertsuk, and Anchalee Avihingsanon.

Summary: Universal HCV screening was conducted in a maximum-security central prison (Klong Prem Central Prison) in Thailand before prison-based provision of DAA therapy. 25% of the participants were coinfected with HIV, and 6% with hepatitis B virus.The model of care was safe and effective with a high cure rate (90% by ITT) for HCV.

The effect of direct-acting antiviral regimens and telemedicine on the treatment of inmates with hepatitis C virus infection in Israeli prisons

Vered Richter, Liav Goldstein, Daniel L. Cohen, Anton Bermont, Dana Zelnik Yovel, Miriam Madar, Ron Rabinovitch, Haim Shirin, and Efrat Broide.

Summary: This 10 year retrospective review of HCV treatment provision in Israeli prisons identified the introduction of DAAs and use of telemedicine as associations of increased treatment success.

Infectious disease surveillance in U.S. jails: Findings from a national survey

Morgan Maner ,Marisa Omori, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, Curt G. Beckwith, Kathryn Nowotny

Summary: This study reported on the findings of a survey of survey of HIV, HCV and TB screening in 1,126 jails (short term facilities) in the United States. There were 371 surveys completed and analyzed (a modest rate of returns), revealing that two thirds of respondent jails test individuals for HCV at admission, but very few provided universal screening.

“You need a designated officer” – Recommendations from correctional and justice health personnel for scaling up hepatitis C treatment-as-prevention in the prison setting

Lise Lafferty, Jake Rance, Marianne Byrne, Andrew Milat, Jason Grebely, Andrew Lloyd, Carla Treloar, SToP-C Study Group

Summary: This qualitative investigation linked to the SToP-C study assessed correctional and healthcare providers perspectives on factors contributing to the successful scale up of HCV treatment-as-prevention. The key factors included efficacy (securely funded positions for dedicated personnel and continuity of care for patients transferring between prisons), reach (reliant on peer and officer champions), and legitimised change (via dedicated officers who could instigate cultural shifts).

“That was quick, simple, and easy”: Patient perceptions of acceptability of point-of-care hepatitis C RNA testing at a reception prison

Lise Lafferty, Amanda Cochrane, Yumi Sheehan, Carla Treloar, Jason Grebely, Andrew Lloyd

Summary: This qualitative analysis was linked to the PIVOT study assessing point of care HCV RNA testing and a ‘one-stop-shop’ model of care versus standard of care at a reception prison in New South Wales, Australia. Acceptability of fingerstick point-of-care HCV RNA testing was evident across four components: affective attitude, burden, self-efficacy, and perceived effectiveness.

The role of low-income and middle-income country prisons in eliminating hepatitis C

Matthew J Akiyama, Nadine Kronfli, Joaquin Cabezas, Yumi Sheehan, Andrew Scheibe, Taha Brahni.

Summary: This perspective piece from the INHSU Prisons Executive and co-authors argues that to achieve global HCV elimination, there is a need for improved HCV estimates, increased political will, contextualised and simplified test-and-treat models, prison-based harm reduction programmes, and community collaborations in prisons in low and middle income countries.

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Full List