prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis c infection (hcv) in birjand, iran, 2014

conclusions in this study, the prevalence of hcv was 0.2%, which is lower than the mean prevalence in iran (1%). prevalence of hcv had a significant relationship with iv-drug abuse. results the mean age of the participants was 39.7 ± 14.4. among them, 52.2% were female and 29.9% had university degrees. prevalence of hcv-ab+ was about 0.2% with elisa, and 0.14% of entire group were confirmed by pcr. no significant relationship was found for age, sex, and education (p > 0.05). also, there was no significant relationship found with risk factors such as endoscopy, blood transfusion, surgery, hospitalization, phlebotomy, and alcohol drinking (p > 0.05). hcv-ab was 200 times more prevalent in iv-drug abusers compared to non-addicted people. also, the prevalence of hcv-ab in non-iv-drug abuser addicts was 9.3 times higher than in non-addict patients. prevalence of hcv-ab in patients who reported illicit sexual activities was 13.3 times higher. in patients with a familial history of hcv, infection was 26.3 times more prevalent than in patients with no familial history (p < 0.001). objectives the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and risk factors of hcv in birjand city. patients and methods in this descriptive-analytical study, 5,235 people who live in birjand city were selected; after gaining permission for the study, a signed consent form was obtained from each patient. prevalence of hcv was determined by elisa test, and positive cases underwent polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and genotyping for confirmation. background hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is an important global concern, with a frequency of 3% (i.e., 170 million of the population has hcv-ab). additionally, 50% of hcv and 80% of transfusion transmitted infections (tti) are chronic. in 20% of cases, hcv occurs as an acute infection, and in the remaining 80% of cases, it becomes chronic. in chronic patients, risk of cirrhosis is up to 44%, risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) is 13%, and risk of mortality is 14%. as there is no vaccine available for the virus yet, and since most of the cases are asymptomatic, attention to the epidemiology of the disease among the population is a pressing concern.