title: 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.
  
  
  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.
authors.affiliation: HIV AIDS Research Center, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Davarpanah
authors.forename: Farnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khademolhosseini
authors.forename: Abdolreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajaeefard
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tavassoli
authors.forename: Seyed Kamalaldin
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yazdanfar
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezaianzadeh
keywords: HIV; hepatitis C; iran; prevalence; risk factors