Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in General Population of Mashhad, Northeastern Iran

Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is one of the major blood-borne infections worldwide. HCV carriers may develop chronic hepatitis leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There is no overall esti-mate of the infection prevalence in the northeast of Iran. We have performed this research in order to determine accu-rately the prevalence and risk factors of HCV infection among general population in Mashhad. Methods: During 2009, 1678 people between 1 to 90 yr old with the mean age of 29.1±18.5 yr were selected random-ly by multistage sampling from different geographical regions of the city proportionate to sex and age distribution of population in 2006 census. ELISA was used to screen for antibodies and RT-PCR tested the positive samples. Results: HCV infection was detected in 7/1654 cases; overall prevalence of the infection was 0.42% (95%CI: 0.17-0.87%), 0.80% and 0.11% among males and females, respectively (P= 0.051). One HCV-infected subject was also pos-itive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), however, no cases showed HIV or HTLV seropositivity. Conclusion: In comparison with similar studies, the prevalence of HCV infection in Mashhad is low.