Prevalence of Seropositive and Geno-positive HCV Infections among Iranian Drug Abusers, 2004-2018

Background and Objectives: HCV as a main agent of hepatotrophic viral infection is most prevalent among drug abusers. The virus belongs to flaviviridea family and hepacivirus genus. Iran is estimated to have the highest population proportion of people who inject drugs. Determination of the true burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among the affected individuals relies heavily on occurrence measures such as prevalence, which are vital for implementation of preventive action plans. This study aimed to determination of HCV seropositive and genopositive among Drug Users. Methods and Materials: During 2004-2018, 1621 drug abuser (1143 injecting and 478 non-IDUs) who suspected to HCV infection referred to Prof.Aborzi Clinical Microbiology Research Center (PACMRC). The sera samples of the patients were assessed by ELISA and Taq-Man real-Time PCR assay 1-8 times post referral. Results: In total, 1570 (97%) and 51(3%) suspected patients were male and female, respectively. The overall seroprevalence of HCV among HCV suspected drug abusers was 95% (1535 patients). Among 86 seronegative patients, 9% of whom (8 ones) had experienced HCV viremia. 339/1525 (22%) of HCV seropositive patients resolved HCV infection with negative RNA in the sera samples. Conclusions: This study found a high prevalence of HCV among IDUs. The seronegative HCV infected patients with HCV RNemia were be considered strongly as well as resolved HCV infection as an occult HCV infection. There is a need for prevention strategies to reduce the burden of HCV infection among high-risk groups, particularly IDUs.