Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Interventions in Carceral Settings of Low- and Middle-Income Countries
A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 September 2025 | Viewed by 246
Special Issue Editors
Interests: jail; prison; carceral settings; linkage to community care TB and TB diagnostics; HIV; HCV elimination and viral hepatitis; STI
Interests: prison medicine; forensics in secure and detained settings; general forensics; correctional intelligence; disaster preparedness
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Focus: This Special Issue will focus on infectious disease epidemiology in carceral settings such as jails, prisons, and other places of detention. We will focus on low- and middle-income countries, most of which will be in tropical climates, and hence, the focus is within the scope of this journal. We are interested in infections whose incidence may be high in crowded, congregate settings because of airborne transmission, such as tuberculosis, or prevalent because of their association with illicit behavior such as injection drug use, such as viral hepatitis.
As we focus on those who are incarcerated, detained, or otherwise deprived of liberty, we hope to convey the dignity that such individuals deserve because of our shared humanity. Consequently, we are asking that authors use “person-first” language, such as a “person experiencing imprisonment or detention” rather than referring to their geographic location (prisoner or inmate) or legal status (offender, probationer, or detainee).
We are especially interested in papers that bring to light multiple vulnerabilities, not just deprivation of liberty. Vulnerabilities among the incarcerated due to young age, race/ethnicity, foreign citizenship (including among those in conflict zones), female or non-binary gender, and/or LGBTQ identity are also important.
Scope: (1) Epidemiology/surveillance and (2) outcomes of innovative interventions. Some outcomes may come from macro-level policy changes (e.g., partnership between ministries of health and corrections). Others may be due to the adoption of best practices such as routinely conducting physicals at prison entry. Still others may be controlled trials for a new treatment. Papers testing new diagnostics and treatments, and how change is implemented, are welcome.
Purpose: (1) To understand the prevalence and incidence of communicable diseases in places of imprisonment and detention in lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC). (2) To disseminate information globally on best practices for managing infectious diseases in carceral settings, especially strategies incorporating newer technology and addressing new challenges, such as emerging infectious diseases or new disease patterns due to climate change. (3) To study how to implement these best practices into the correctional setting.
Dr. Anne Spaulding
Dr. Lawrence Kofi Acheampong
Dr. Osei Owusu-Afriyie
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- tuberculosis
- HIV
- viral hepatitis
- prevalence
- outbreak
- airborne pathogens
- carceral
- jail
- prison
- remand
- detention
- incarceration
- zones of conflict
- persons deprived of liberty
- prisoner
- detainee
- inmate
- LGBTQ issues
- Mandela rules
- overcrowding
- intake screening
- low- and middle-income countries
- Africa
- Asia
- Central America
- Caribbean
- South America
- climate change
- emerging infectious disease
- intervention
- innovation
- implementation science
- technology transfer
- artificial intelligence
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