Hepatitis C virus infection in HIV positive attendees of Shiraz behavioral diseases consultation center in southern Iran

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HCV co-infection and its correlation with demographic and risk factors among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals attending Shiraz behavioral diseases consultation (SBDC) Center in southern Iran. Materials and Methods : In a cross-sectional study, 226 consecutive HIV-positive patients who referred to SBDC Center from April 2006 to March 2007 were interviewed face-to-face to record demographic data and risk factors of HIV transmission. A 10ml sample of venous blood was drawn from every subject and tested for HCV-antibodies by third generation enzyme linked immunosorbant (ELISA) and recombinant immunoblot assays (RIBA). All samples were also analyzed by qualitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of HCV-RNA. Results: The study population consisted of 214 men (94.7%) and 12 women (5.3%) with a mean age of 35.6 +- 7.9 years. The most prevalent risk factor was imprisonment (88.9%) followed by injecting drug use (79.2%). The prevalence of HCV infection was 88.5% by ELISA and 86.7% by RIBA, while HCV viremia was detected in 26.1% of the patients. HCV-antibody positivity was significantly associated with gender, age, marital status, occupation, injecting drug use, and history of imprisonment. It was inversely related to "having an infected or high risk sexual partner". In the logistic regression model, the predictors of HCV-positivity were injecting drug use (OR = 24.9, P = 0.004) and imprisonment (OR = 21.4, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Prevalence of HCV infection among HIV-positive individuals in our region is very high and there is a need for stricter preventive actions against transmission of HCV among this group of patients.