A clinical trial of minocycline in lepromatous leprosy.

population injected drugs in the six months before arrest.45 If we assume from our data that 8% of them were HIV positive that gives an estimated total of 203 HIV positive male drug injectors in the sentenced population. The corresponding figures for women (about 168 recent injectors, and 15% HIV positive) suggest a total of 25 HIV positive women in prison. At any time, therefore, the total number of HIV positive prisoners may be about 228 in a sentenced population of about 36 000. If drug injecting is found as commonly among remand prisoners as amongst those sentenced the total number of HIV positive drug injectors in the prison system (both sentenced and on remand) is probably about 285 out of a prison population ofabout 45 000, or 1 in 158. It is more difficult to estimate the prevalence of HIV infection among non-injecting prisoners. We found that 17% of the non-injecting subjects were HIV positive but it is difficult to make a projection when prevalence is low. On the basis of the evidence for drug injectors, we conclude that the prevalence of HIV infection in the prison population is not less than about 1 in 158 (0 6%). This estimate must be compared with the prison department's figure of roughly 50 prisoners known to be positive for HIV antibody per year.