People in correctional facilities
- Men, women and young people in correctional facilities are often marginalised groups, including homeless, itinerate, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people who inject drugs and sex workers.
- Injecting drug use and unsafe tattooing occurs in correctional facilities.
- Therefore, there is a high prevalence of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) amongst people in correctional facilities.
|Chlamydia||Consider self-collection of samples for testing.|
|Gonorrhoea||Consider self-collection of samples for testing.
If NAAT test result is positive, take swab at relevant site(s) for culture, before treatment. Cultures are the preferred test for samples from non-genital sites.
|HIV||Repeat test if patient exposed within previous 12 weeks (window period).|
|If clinical suspicion of syphilis, refer to the syphilis guideline.|
|Hepatitis A||Vaccinate if not immune.|
Vaccinate if not immune.
Serological testing after hepatitis B vaccination should be considered in correctional facilities.
|Hepatitis C||If antibody positive, test for hepatitis C NAAT to determine if patient has chronic hepatitis C.|
|NAAT – Nucleic Acid Amplification Test|
Specimen collectionClinician collected | Self-collection
Clinical indicators for testing
- All people should have a risk assessment for sexual health and BBV infection on admission to prison by appropriately trained staff.
- All people should be able to access advice and screening for STIs and BBVs.
- It is not recommended to routinely test for herpes and genital warts with serology. Consider testing for herpes and genital warts only if there are clinical signs and symptoms.
Special considerationsPregnancy test where appropriate.
If testing results are positive, refer to STI management section for advice:
- Educate about condom use and risk minimisation
- Vaccinate for hepatitis A and B, if susceptible
- Discuss and activate reminders for regular screening tests according to risk, especially if their behaviors indicate the need for more frequent testing.
- 100% of individuals tested for STIs and blood-borne viruses in first week of admission to prison
- 100% of individuals positive for an STI are appropriately managed.