Volume 224 - Issue 6
Hospital-Admitted Injection-Related Infections Among Incarcerated People Who Inject Drugs in Australia: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Andrew Palmer, Matthew Carter, Jeremy Yeo, Cecilia Shim, Jason Connor, Jeremy Hayllar, Gerald Holtmann, Naomi Moy, Elliott G. Playford, Naomi Runnegar, Paul J. Clark
Correspondence: andrew.palmer@uq.edu.au
Med J Aust 2026 || doi: 10.5694/mja2.70224
Published online: 14 June 2026
Published online: 14 June 2026
Abstract
Objectives
To characterise the clinical, microbiological and economic burden of hospital-admitted, injection-related infections among incarcerated people who inject drugs.
Study Type
Retrospective observational cohort study.
Setting
Secure unit of the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
Participants
Adults incarcerated in Queensland prisons who were admitted to hospital with an injection-related infection between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2023.
Main Outcome Measures
Types of injection-related infection, microbiological findings, requirement for surgical or radiological source control, hospital length of stay and inpatient healthcare costs.
Results
There were 321 hospital admissions for injection-related infection among 265 patients, accounting for 282 unique infections. Most patients were male (241; 90.9%), with a mean age of 33years (standard deviation [SD], 7.4years), and 76 (28.7%) identified as First Nations. The most frequent infections were soft tissue infections (77/282; 27.3%), acute hepatitis C (64/282; 22.7%) and cellulitis (43/282; 15.2%). Surgical or radiological source control was required in 95 infections (34.0%), and infectious diseases consultation occurred in 130 infections (46.1%). Among 39 true-positive blood cultures, Staphylococcus aureus was identified in 17 (43.6%), Burkholderia species in 10 (25.6%) and non-tuberculous Mycobacterium species in 3 (7.7%). Among the 218 non-acute hepatitis C infections, 50 (22.9%) were hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA positive. Overall, HCV RNA was present in 114 of 282 infections (40.4%). The total inflation-adjusted inpatient cost was $8.39 million, with a median cost per infection of $11,602 (interquartile range, $7426–$34,544).
Conclusion
Injection-related infections among incarcerated people who inject drugs were associated with substantial morbidity and healthcare costs in this large hospital cohort. A wide clinical spectrum was observed, including atypical pathogens, and clinically overt acute hepatitis C requiring hospital admission. These findings describe a significant burden of preventable disease in custodial settings and support the introduction of established primary prevention and harm-reduction interventions in prisons.
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