Conclusion
When thinking about managing the HCV epidemic in corrections, it is important to keep the reality of correctional health care in perspective. If it is not possible to test all incoming inmates for HCV, savvy providers will set up protocols that will help them identify inmates who may be at high risk for HCV infection, and educate those who are not yet infected. And whereas treatment initiatives may have been poorly received in the past, armed with new data on the successful management of HIV and HCV coinfected individuals and new data on improved outcomes due to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin, providers may be able to enroll more inmates in treatment protocols. As the CDC and the NIH compile guidelines and consensus papers this spring, correctional physicians eagerly await further direction in managing HCV and HIV/HCV co-infection among the inmate population.

CONTINUE...
 

• HCV Epidemiology
• Inmates at Risk
• Targeted Screening
• Who Should Get Treated?
• Shifting Standards for Treatment of HCV
• Expect Delays
• Length of Treatment
• Expected Outcome
• Liver Biopsy
• HIV/HCV Coinfection
• HIV/HCV Response Therapy
• Cost of Treatment
• Management
• New Guidelines for Corrections
• Conclusion
• References
• Figures 1, 2 & 3
• Box 1 & 2
• Tables 1 & 2

HEPP News is published twelve times a year by the: HIV Education/Prison Project at the Brown University AIDS Program Box G-B426 Brown University Providence, Rhode Island 02912 401-863-2180 fax 401-863-1243 heppnews@brown.edu