Hepatitis A, B, C and HIV infections among Finnish female prisoners – Young females a risk group

Summary Objectives Previous prison studies have shown that the female gender is associated with higher hepatitis C prevalence. However, there are few prison studies of gender differences concerning the risk factors of hepatitis C infections. We studied the prevalence of hepatitis and HIV infections and the risk factors among Finnish female prisoners. Methods The material consisted of 88 females and 300 male prisoners as controls. Results The prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies was 52%, hepatitis B surface antigen 0%, hepatitis A virus antibodies 38% and HIV antibodies 1% among women, and 44%, 0.7%, 4% and 0.7% respectively among men. Among women, 71% of the age group 16–24 had HCV. There was no significant association between gender and HCV. Women were more commonly sharing syringes/needles and had unsafe sexual habits. Among women, HCV was associated only with IDU and syringe/needle sharing whereas among men also with tattoos, cumulative years in prison and age. Conclusions Especially young females had a high prevalence of HCV. The study showed that the risk factors are differentiated by gender. This should be taken into account when assessing earlier studies which mainly concentrate on men.