Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus: the first population-based study from Iran.
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.
Merat
Shahin
S
Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, N Kargar Street, Tehran, Iran.
Rezvan
Houri
H
Nouraie
Mehdi
M
Jafari
Elham
E
Abolghasemi
Hassan
H
Radmard
Amir Reza
AR
Zaer-rezaii
Hanieh
H
Amini-Kafiabad
Sedigheh
S
Maghsudlu
Mahtab
M
Pourshams
Akram
A
Malekzadeh
Reza
R
Esmaili
Saeed
S
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
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies