Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review
Background There are reports of outbreaks of COVID-19 in prisons in many countries. Responses to date have been highly variable and it is not clear whether public health guidance has been informed by the best available evidence. We conducted a systematic review to synthesise the evidence on outbreak...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2020-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003201.full |
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| author | Daniel Whiting Seena Fazel Babak Javid Gabrielle Beaudry Shaoling Zhong John Frater |
| author_facet | Daniel Whiting Seena Fazel Babak Javid Gabrielle Beaudry Shaoling Zhong John Frater |
| author_sort | Daniel Whiting |
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| description | Background There are reports of outbreaks of COVID-19 in prisons in many countries. Responses to date have been highly variable and it is not clear whether public health guidance has been informed by the best available evidence. We conducted a systematic review to synthesise the evidence on outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prison.Methods We searched seven electronic databases for peer-reviewed articles and official reports published between 1 January 2000 and 28 July 2020. We included quantitative primary research that reported an outbreak of a given contagious disease in a correctional facility and examined the effects of interventions. We excluded studies that did not provide detail on interventions. We synthesised common themes using the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline, identified gaps in the literature and critically appraised the effectiveness of various containment approaches.Results We identified 28 relevant studies. Investigations were all based in high-income countries and documented outbreaks of tuberculosis, influenza (types A and B), varicella, measles, mumps, adenovirus and COVID-19. Several themes were common to these reports, including the public health implications of infectious disease outbreaks in prison, and the role of interagency collaboration, health communication, screening for contagious diseases, restriction, isolation and quarantine, contact tracing, immunisation programmes, epidemiological surveillance and prison-specific guidelines in addressing any outbreaks.Discussion Prisons are high-risk settings for the transmission of contagious diseases and there are considerable challenges in managing outbreaks in them. A public health approach to managing COVID-19 in prisons is required.PROSPERO registration number CRD42020178827 |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d99a0bb5420e40ce8f7fbcfa1f4306dd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
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| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-d99a0bb5420e40ce8f7fbcfa1f4306dd2024-12-11T10:40:07ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082020-11-0151110.1136/bmjgh-2020-003201Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic reviewDaniel Whiting0Seena Fazel1Babak Javid2Gabrielle Beaudry3Shaoling Zhong4John Frater5Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKDivision of Experimental Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USADepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UKDepartment of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, ChinaPeter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UKBackground There are reports of outbreaks of COVID-19 in prisons in many countries. Responses to date have been highly variable and it is not clear whether public health guidance has been informed by the best available evidence. We conducted a systematic review to synthesise the evidence on outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prison.Methods We searched seven electronic databases for peer-reviewed articles and official reports published between 1 January 2000 and 28 July 2020. We included quantitative primary research that reported an outbreak of a given contagious disease in a correctional facility and examined the effects of interventions. We excluded studies that did not provide detail on interventions. We synthesised common themes using the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline, identified gaps in the literature and critically appraised the effectiveness of various containment approaches.Results We identified 28 relevant studies. Investigations were all based in high-income countries and documented outbreaks of tuberculosis, influenza (types A and B), varicella, measles, mumps, adenovirus and COVID-19. Several themes were common to these reports, including the public health implications of infectious disease outbreaks in prison, and the role of interagency collaboration, health communication, screening for contagious diseases, restriction, isolation and quarantine, contact tracing, immunisation programmes, epidemiological surveillance and prison-specific guidelines in addressing any outbreaks.Discussion Prisons are high-risk settings for the transmission of contagious diseases and there are considerable challenges in managing outbreaks in them. A public health approach to managing COVID-19 in prisons is required.PROSPERO registration number CRD42020178827https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003201.full |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Whiting Seena Fazel Babak Javid Gabrielle Beaudry Shaoling Zhong John Frater Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review BMJ Global Health |
| title | Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review |
| title_full | Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review |
| title_short | Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review |
| title_sort | managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons a systematic review |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003201.full |
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