STDs Among Inmates

According to the 1997 NIJ/CDC survey, 88 percent of State/Federal prison
systems and 41 percent of city/county jail systems have policies for
mandatory or routine syphilis screening of incoming inmates (table 11).
However, 64 percent of State/Federal systems and 29 percent of
city/county systems with mandatory or routine syphilis screening did not
report or were unable to report the results of such screening on the survey.
Of those systems that did report, most had syphilis positivity rates of less
than 5 percent (table 11), but these are very incomplete data. Even fewer
correctional systems have mandatory or routine screening for gonorrhea or
chlamydia, and the few systems reporting results had positivity rates of
less than 5 percent for incoming inmates (tables 12-13). Indeed, the most
striking point about these survey findings is the rarity of screening and the
paucity of screening data. Since gonorrhea is likely to be symptomatic
among men, however, it is probable that most cases will be detected
without mass screening programs.

Most available behavioral profiles of correctional inmates suggest that
they are at high risk for, and disproportionately infected with, STDs.
Anecdotal reports confirm this–for example, 24 percent of all of Chicago’s
incident syphilis cases in 1996 were diagnosed in Cook County Jail, and
13 percent of Florida’s syphilis morbidity was identified in correctional
facilities (site visit interviews, Chicago and Florida, March-April 1997).
Better estimates of the burden of STD morbidity among inmates may help
support increased resources for STD prevention and treatment programs in
correctional facilities.