title: Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus: the first population-based study from Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Early studies on blood donors point to a seroprevalence of approximately 0.25% for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Iran. However, the true prevalence in the general population is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HCV infection in the general population of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  We randomly selected 6583 subjects from three provinces in Iran for inclusion in the study. Subjects were aged between 18 and 65 years. Anti-hepatitis C antibody was tested by a third-generation ELISA test. A recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) test was used to confirm the results. Risk factors were recorded and a multivariate analysis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 5684 plasma samples were tested. After confirmatory tests, we found 50 cases of HCV. The overall weighted prevalence of anti-HCV was 0.5%. The rate was significantly higher in men (1.0%) than in women (0.1%). In multivariate analysis, male sex, history of intravenous drug abuse, and imprisonment were significantly associated with anti-HCV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found the prevalence of HCV infection in Iran to be higher than previous estimates. It appears that the rate is rising, and in the future, hepatitis C will replace hepatitis B as the most common cause of chronic viral liver disease in Iran.
authors.affiliation: Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, N Kargar Street, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merat
authors.forename: Houri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rezvan
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nouraie
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abolghasemi
authors.forename: Amir Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Radmard
authors.forename: Hanieh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zaer-rezaii
authors.forename: Sedigheh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amini-Kafiabad
authors.forename: Mahtab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maghsudlu
authors.forename: Akram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pourshams
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malekzadeh
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esmaili
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies