Epidemiology and Treatment of Hepatitis B in Prisoners

Abstract

Purpose of Review The review details recent literature reports regarding Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and, in particular, Hepatitis B prevalence/incidence in incarcerated populations around the world. Furthermore, the review will summarize the national/international guidelines regarding HBV and look at diagnosis, vaccination, treatment, and linkage to care after release. Recent Findings HBV affects prisoners at a much higher rate than the general populations. Many who are at increased risk for HBV infection are also at increased risk for incarceration. Incarcerated settings also have higher rates of HBV transmission. Summary Incarcerated individuals should be immunized if they are not already immune to HBV. Increased access to safe injecting and tattoo paraphernalia, condoms, and personal hygiene equipment could reduce the spread of HBV and other blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections. Future research should focus on ways to prevent the spread of HBV and similar viruses in incarcerated settings in order to protect incarcerated individuals and the general public. Research on effective linkage to community HBV care following release is needed.

The Profiles of Hepatitis B and C Virus Infections in Prison-Assisted Citizens

“…Apart from tattoos and piercings, one of the factors causing infection of the virus in prisonassisted citizens in this study was that they had not been vaccinated before. This result is in line with the results of previous studies (Viswanathan et al, 2011;Keten et al, 2016;Smith et al, 2017). Vaccination is an easy and effective way to prevent HBV infection (Gahrton et al, 2019).…”

“…In their research, Keten et al (2016) recounted that the number of HBV infections in prison-assisted citizens in Turkey was much lower than in those in other countries because 35% of them had received vaccinations. Therefore, Smith et al (2017) suggest that all prison-assisted citizens who do not have good immunity should be vaccinated. In the UK, every prison-assisted citizen who has just entered prison for one month is obliged to be vaccinated, even the officials are recommended to get vaccinated (Viswanathan et al, 2011).…”

“…According to Gahrton et al (2019), in about 60-80% of people suffering from acute HBV or HCV infection, the infection will develop into a chronic condition. Both viruses can cause cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma (Smith et al, 2017). HBV is transmitted through blood, sperm and vaginal fluids (Kudesia and Wreghitt, 2009).…”

“…In their research, Smith et al (2017) concluded that the prevalence of hepatitis B in prison-assisted citizens in the world ranged from 0.9%-11.4% for active infection (positive on the surface antigen test for hepatitis B virus (HBsAg)) and could be contagious, while for those who had been exposed to the virus (positive on anti-HBs or HBsAb examination) was 6.5% -42.6%. In the following year, a study by Moradi et al (2018) reported that the prevalence of Hepatitis B in prison-assisted citizens in the world was 5.17%, with the highest prevalence in Afrika (13.14%).…”

Genetic diversity of hepatitis B virus in Yunnan, China: identification of novel subgenotype C17, an intergenotypic B/I recombinant, and B/C recombinants

“…Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections impact negatively on human health and are a significant healthcare burden worldwide. Chronic HBV infection, which affects approximately 257 million people worldwide [1], is associated with liver damage leading to liver cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [2]. HBV is an enveloped double-stranded (ds) DNA virus that has a relaxed circular DNA genome that is approximately 3200 nucleotides (nt) long and encodes four overlapping open reading frames encoding a polymerase (P), a surface protein (S), a precore/core protein (C) and the X gene product (X) [3, 4].…”