The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention
Health risks within prisons are well known and have worsened with the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), becoming a public health emergency. To date, there are more than 10 million inmates in the world; in most cases, conditions are bad and health care is scarce. A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak inside a pr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | Healthcare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/2/270 |
| _version_ | 1797479760104783872 |
|---|---|
| author | Massimiliano Esposito Monica Salerno Nunzio Di Nunno Federica Ministeri Aldo Liberto Francesco Sessa |
| author_facet | Massimiliano Esposito Monica Salerno Nunzio Di Nunno Federica Ministeri Aldo Liberto Francesco Sessa |
| author_sort | Massimiliano Esposito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Health risks within prisons are well known and have worsened with the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), becoming a public health emergency. To date, there are more than 10 million inmates in the world; in most cases, conditions are bad and health care is scarce. A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak inside a prison is extremely rapid. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze all possible prevention techniques to reduce the risk of COVID-19 related infection within prisons. A systematic review of the literature was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used as search engines from 1 January 2020 to 1 November 2021 to evaluate the prevention of COVID-19 in prisoners. A total of 1757 articles were collected. Of them, 486 duplicates were removed. A total of 1250 articles did not meet the inclusion criteria. In conclusion, 21 articles were included in the present systematic review. From this analysis, it emerged that the most common COVID-19 prevention methods were the screening of the entire population (prisoners and workers) inside the prison through swab analysis and the reduction in overcrowding in prisons. Few studies concerned the prevention of COVID-19 infection through vaccination and the implementation of quarantine. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that evaluates the prevention of COVID-19 within jails and the real effectiveness of all possible methods used and published in the literature. Finally, a very useful strategic protocol is provided to reduce the incidence of infection and to control and manage COVID-19 in prisons. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:50:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f106059c2c394e7b83ef60bd5e674eda |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:50:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-f106059c2c394e7b83ef60bd5e674eda2023-11-23T20:09:12ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322022-01-0110227010.3390/healthcare10020270The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of PreventionMassimiliano Esposito0Monica Salerno1Nunzio Di Nunno2Federica Ministeri3Aldo Liberto4Francesco Sessa5Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, ItalyDepartment of History, Society and Studies on Humanity, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, ItalyDepartment of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, ItalyHealth risks within prisons are well known and have worsened with the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), becoming a public health emergency. To date, there are more than 10 million inmates in the world; in most cases, conditions are bad and health care is scarce. A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak inside a prison is extremely rapid. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze all possible prevention techniques to reduce the risk of COVID-19 related infection within prisons. A systematic review of the literature was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used as search engines from 1 January 2020 to 1 November 2021 to evaluate the prevention of COVID-19 in prisoners. A total of 1757 articles were collected. Of them, 486 duplicates were removed. A total of 1250 articles did not meet the inclusion criteria. In conclusion, 21 articles were included in the present systematic review. From this analysis, it emerged that the most common COVID-19 prevention methods were the screening of the entire population (prisoners and workers) inside the prison through swab analysis and the reduction in overcrowding in prisons. Few studies concerned the prevention of COVID-19 infection through vaccination and the implementation of quarantine. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that evaluates the prevention of COVID-19 within jails and the real effectiveness of all possible methods used and published in the literature. Finally, a very useful strategic protocol is provided to reduce the incidence of infection and to control and manage COVID-19 in prisons.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/2/270prisonCOVID-19preventionrisk of infectionmanagement strategies |
| spellingShingle | Massimiliano Esposito Monica Salerno Nunzio Di Nunno Federica Ministeri Aldo Liberto Francesco Sessa The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention Healthcare prison COVID-19 prevention risk of infection management strategies |
| title | The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention |
| title_full | The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention |
| title_fullStr | The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention |
| title_short | The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Prisons and Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review and a New Strategic Protocol of Prevention |
| title_sort | risk of covid 19 infection in prisons and prevention strategies a systematic review and a new strategic protocol of prevention |
| topic | prison COVID-19 prevention risk of infection management strategies |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/2/270 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT massimilianoesposito theriskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT monicasalerno theriskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT nunziodinunno theriskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT federicaministeri theriskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT aldoliberto theriskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT francescosessa theriskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT massimilianoesposito riskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT monicasalerno riskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT nunziodinunno riskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT federicaministeri riskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT aldoliberto riskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention AT francescosessa riskofcovid19infectioninprisonsandpreventionstrategiesasystematicreviewandanewstrategicprotocolofprevention |