title: Prevalence of hepatitis C infection among intravenous drug users in Shanghai.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among Chinese intravenous drug users (IDUs).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 432 adult IDUs (95 women and 337 men) in Shanghai were included in the study. The third-generation Elecsys Anti-HCV assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Sandhofer Strasse 116, D-68305, Mannheim, Germany) was used to screen for antibodies against HCV. The RIBA strip, a supplemental anti-HCV test with high specificity, was performed on all of the samples that tested positive during the initial screening. All of the anti-HCV positive samples were analyzed with a Cobas TaqMan 48 Analyzer (Roche Diagnostics) for direct detection of HCV RNA. All of the HCV RNA-positive samples were sequenced for genotype determination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The preliminary screening identified 262 (60.6%) subjects who were seropositive for HCV. Of the 62 females and 200 males seropositive subjects, 16 (16.7%) and 65 (19.3%), respectively, were confirmed by RIBA, yielding an overall HCV seropositive rate of 18.8%. Four female (6.5%) and 14 male (7.0%) subjects tested positive for HCV RNA, indicating an active infection rate of 4.2% for the entire study population. The 18 HCV RNA-positive serum samples were genotyped. Seven individuals were genotype 1b, and four were genotype 1a. One individual each was infected with genotypes 2a, 2b and 3a. Four subjects were co-infected with multiple strains: two with genotypes 1a and 2a, and two with genotypes 1b and 2a. The active infection rate among HCV-seropositive individuals was 22.2%, which was significantly lower than most estimates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of HCV is relatively low among IDUs in Shanghai, with a spontaneous recovery rate much higher than previous estimates.
authors: Microbiology Laboratory, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Xuhui, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors: Yan-Lin
authors: YL
authors: Tao
authors: Yu-Fan
authors: YF
authors: Tang
authors: Jian-Ping
authors: JP
authors: Qiu
authors: Xiao-Feng
authors: XF
authors: Cai
authors: Xiao-Ting
authors: XT
authors: Shen
authors: Ya-Xin
authors: YX
authors: Wang
authors: Xue-Tao
authors: XT
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D055030:Drug Users / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Active infection rate; Anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies; Hepatitis C; Intravenous drug users; Prevalence of hepatitis C virus
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