Prevalence of HIV, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B Infection Among Detainees in a French Administrative Detention Centre.

Background: In France, migrants constitute a significant proportion of people diagnosed with HIV, hepatitis C (HCV) and B (HBV). This study estimated the prevalence of these three viruses among detainees at a French administrative detention centre (CRA), through systematic Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) screening.

Methods: This prospective, single-centre, cross-sectional, pilot study included detainees at the Nîmes CRA from February to December 2022. The primary endpoint was HIV, HCV and HBV prevalence determined by RDT. Secondary outcomes were: co-infections; study acceptability, reasons for non-inclusion, causes of non-contributory samples; and concordance between serological tests and RDT.

Results: Among the 350 people agreeing to participate of 726 eligible, five refused the RDT, leaving 345 analysable participants for a participation rate of 47.5% (345/726). Participants were predominantly male (90%) with an average age of 31 years. The most common country of origin was Algeria (34%). Twenty (6%) had taken drugs intravenously and 240 (70%) had had unprotected sex within a median of 4.92 [1.08; 15] months. Virus prevalence was: 0% HIV; 4.64 [2.42; 6.86] % HCV; and 2.32 [1.01; 4.52] % HBV. Eleven (73%) of the RDT HCV positive cases were confirmed serologically. RDT detected one false-positive HCV case, as an anti-HCV Ac serological test was negative. Of the eight patients with positive HBV RDT, one declined the serology testing, thus 100% (7/7) of the tested RDT positive cases were confirmed by serology.

Conclusion: The study highlighted the need to screen detainees for HIV, HCV and HBV infection and suitability of RDTs.