COVID-19 in Prison Study [COVID-19] [UPH]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prevalence and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in prisons in England
IRAS ID
285534
Contact name
Julie Parkes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 12 days
Research summary
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone in England and particularly those who live or work in prisons. Prisons are places where infectious diseases can spread rapidly; they are often crowded and poorly ventilated. Staff are also at risk of becoming infected and transmitting this infection to their households and communities. If many staff become sick, it becomes difficult to run a prison. Therefore, managing COVID-19 is important, not just for people in prison, but for the whole community. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) runs prisons in England and they have taken action to ensure any spread is minimised. They, and the health authorities advising them, need more information on how much infection there is in prisons in England and how infection is spread in this setting.\nCOVID-19 is caused by a virus and the main test we are using looks for this virus in people’s nose and throat. Because we also want to find out how the amount of disease varies in prisons over time, we will repeat this test 3 weeks and 6 weeks after the first test. If virus is found, its genetic make-up will be examined in the lab. We will ask participants to fill out a short questionnaire giving details of things that are likely to be important in whether they get infected and develop COVID-19, such as their age. \nWe will do this study in 28 prisons across England and it is likely to involve about 1,000 people in each prison. In about 8 prisons, we will also test consenting members of staff for antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19. This will be done by a blood test. It will tell us whether that person has been infected in the past.\n
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NW/0320
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion