High prevalence of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections amongstthe inmates of a district jail in Northern India

Two hundred and forty male and 9 female jail inmates confined for various c rimes in a district jail near Delhi were screened for sexually transmitted and blood-borne diseases including HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and C vira l infections, skin diseases etc. The inmates were aged 15-50 years with a m ean of 24.8+/-0.11. Their alleged criminal background, period of stay in th e jail, drug addiction, education, birth place, marital status, sexual acti vity, and clinical complaints were recorded by an anonymous questionnaire. Serum samples were tested for antibodies against HIV (1+2), hepatitis C (HC V), Treponema pallidum and for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Sputum examination was done for acid-fast bacilli. Out of the 240 men, 115 were ma rried and 125 unmarried. One hundred and eighty-four (76.6%) men gave histo ry of penetrative sex. Of the 184, 53 (28.8%) were homosexuals or bisexuals and 131 (71.2%) had sex with women only. Sixty of the 131 (45.8%) were fai thful to their partners while 124 gave a history of having multiple sexual partners and 100 of them (80.6%) had unprotected sex. Eighty-three of these 100 also had had sex with commercial sex workers (CSWs). One hundred and t wenty-six were addicted for alcohol, 44 for smack/charas and 8 had a histor y of intravenous drug abuse. One hundred and seventy-four were not aware of AIDS. On examination 28 of the 240 (11.6%) had active hepatitis with or wi thout a history of jaundice in the last 2 years, 25 (10.4%) active pulmonar y tuberculosis (TB) and 11 (4.6%) had syphilitic ulcers on the penis. Four- fifths of the teenagers confined to a particular barrack had moderate to se vere scabies. Three males (1.3%) were found to be Western blot confirmed HI V-1 positive while 28 (11.1%) men and 2 (22.2%) women were positive for HBs Ag. Twelve (5.0%) men but no women, were found to be positive for anti-HCV antibodies. Out of the 3 HIV-positive persons, one was an intravenous drug user (IVDU), second was a drug addict and frequent CSW visitor while the th ird was a homosexual. This pilot study gives an indication that sexually tr ansmitted and blood-borne infections are highly prevalent in jail premises and pose a threat of rapid spread of these infections through IVDU and homo sexuality.