Niriella, M.A.Hapangama, A.Luke, H.P.D.P.Pathmeswaran, A.Kuruppuarachchi, K.A.L.A.de Silva, H.J.2015-06-042015-06-042015The .Ceylon Medical Journal. 2015; 60(1) : pp.18-202386-1274(electronic)0009-0875 (Print)http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/8008Indexed in MEDLINEINTRODUCTION: Prisoners are considered to be at high risk for Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) virus infections. This is attributed to intravenous drug use and high-risk sexual behaviour. There are no published studies on HBV and HCV among prison inmates or injecting drug users in Sri Lanka. OBJECTIVES: To determine prevalence of HBV and HCV infections, and their relationship to injectable drug use among Sri Lankan prisoners. METHODS: We investigated 393 (median age 42 years (range 16 to 93); 82% males) randomly selected inmates of Mahara and Welikada prisons. RESULTS: Though 167 (42.5%) admitted drug abuse, only 17 (4.3%) had ever used intravenous drugs. Twelve (70.6%) of them reported sharing needles. One inmate was positive for HBsAg but was negative for HBV-DNA. Twenty seven (6.9%) were positive for anti-HCV antibodies, of whom only 2 (0.5%) were positive for HCV-RNA. None of the injecting drug users were positive for HBV-DNA or HCV-RNA. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HBV and HCV infections as well as injecting drug use was very low among this cohort of Sri Lankan prisoninmatesen-USHepatitis BHepatitis CPrevalenceSexual BehaviorSubstance Abuse, IntravenousPrisonersCohort StudiesArticleMedicinePsychiatryPublic Health