Chronic hepatitis B prevalence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians since universal vaccination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: In Australia, higher rates of chronic hepatitis B (HBsAg) have been reported among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) compared with non-Indigenous people. In 2000, the Australian government implemented a universal infant/adolescent hepatitis B vaccination program. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the disparity of HBsAg prevalence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, particularly since 2000.

Higher HCV antibody prevalence among Indigenous clients of needle and syringe programs.

Objective: To compare prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody and associated risk behaviours among Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants in the Australian Needle and Syringe Program Survey.

Methods: During 1 or 2 weeks each October from 1998 to 2008, clients of participating needle and syringe programs (NSPs) completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographics and risk behaviour and provided a capillary blood sample for HIV and HCV antibody testing. After de-duplication, 16,132 individuals participated during the 11 years, of whom 1,380 (8.

Epidemiology of syphilis in Australia: moving toward elimination of infectious syphilis from remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities?

Objective: To describe the epidemiology of infectious syphilis among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) people in Australia.

Design And Setting: We assessed trends in national infectious syphilis notification rates from 2005 to 2009 using Poisson regression, with a focus on geographic and demographic differences by Indigenous status. We compared Indigenous and non-Indigenous rate ratios over the study period and summarised the annual changes (summary rate ratio).

Guarding against an HIV epidemic within an Aboriginal community and cultural framework; lessons from NSW.

The rate of HIV diagnosis in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Australia has been stable over the past 5 years. It is similar to the rate in non-Indigenous people overall, but there are major differences in the demographical and behaviour patterns associated with infection, with a history of injecting drug use and heterosexual contact much more prominent in Aboriginal people with HIV infection. Moreover there are a range of factors, such as social disadvantage, a higher incidence of sexually transmitted infections and poor access to health services that place Aboriginal people at special risk of HIV infection.