Abstract

Objective: We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of  human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in a penal institution campus in Turkey, and to query its risk factors.

Methods: Participants were selected randomly from blocks of residents who were under judgement process in a penal institution campus. All participants were  males aged ≥18 years in this cross-sectional study. Questionnaire conducted on participants included the following: age, marital status, living location, education, income, use of cigarette, use of alcohol, use of illicit drugs, having tattoo, collective personal materials of hygiene, blood transfusion, sexual orientation, use of condom. Blood specimens of participants were tested  for anti-HIV antibodies.

Results: Among 495 prisoners on remand, three were HIV-positive. Prevalence of HIV infection was determined as 0.61%. All HIV-positives were married and lived in Istanbul. Two of them were primary school graduates, and one of them was a high school graduate. Two of them had yearly income less than 400 USD. All denied use of illicit intravenous drugs. They have extramarital sex, and were not using condoms.

Conclusions: It was remarkable that prevalence of HIV infection among prisoners on remand was almost 60-fold higher than those of the general population.  Giving information about HIV infection and its routes of transmission to prisoners and screening them on a routine basis on admission to penal institutions are the primary steps to control HIV infection.

Cite this article as: Şahin AR, Şahin AM, Gündüz A, Aktemur A, Kes-Uzun N. [HIV seropositivity in a penal institution in Turkey: A cross-sectional study]. Klimik Derg. 2018; 31(2): 132-4. Turkish.