Using ethnographic fieldwork to inform hepatitis C vaccine preparedness studies with people who inject drugs.

Background: Feasibility studies are an important component of preparations for field trials of biomedical prevention interventions, including vaccines.

Methods: We conducted ethnographic fieldwork to assess feasibility, including eligibility and willingness to participate, prior to recruitment of a prospective observational study of hepatitis C negative people who inject drugs (PWID) in Sydney, Australia. Five staff conducted ethnographic fieldwork in 16 locations during 2008.