The Absence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among Patients with Hepatitis B virus in Mashhad, Iran

Background and Aims: Many studies have provided evidence for the role of hepatitis B and C viruses in the development of liver cancer. Although the routine treatment is available for both conditions, no definite guideline is available to treat patients dually infected with HBV and HCV. This study was performed to determine the frequency of HBV/HCV-coinfection in Mashhad, North-East of Iran. Materials and Methods: In our previous study, 3198 participants were chosen for study of HBV infection from March 2010 to November 2011 in Mashhad, Iran. ELISA method was used to determine the existence of anti-HCV antibody among HBV infected cases. Results: Of 34 HBsAg positive participants that included equal number of men and women (17 subjects of each gender) with the mean age of 49.9 years, none were positive for anti-HCV antibody. Conclusion: According to the current study, it could be concluded that the prevalence of HBV/HCV coinfection is low in Mashhad. However, since occult HBV infection may go unnoticed by conventional HBsAg testing, high sensitive molecular techniques are required to investigate the presence of dual infection.