Prevalence of HCV and high-risk behaviors in drug addiction inmates in Rasht, Iran

Objective (s): The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of HCV and high-risk behaviors in drug addiction inmates. We conducted a cross-sectional prevalence study of HCV infection in drug addiction inmates who were admitted to a prison in Guilan province, north of Iran, between September 2003 and October 2003. Subjects were asked questions regarding risk behaviors for HCV, and blood was drawn for HCV antibody testing using an enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA III) and positive samples rechecked. Four hundred sixty inmates participated in this seroprevalence study. The mean age of respondents was 34.7± 8.9 SD, (range from 18 to 65) years. Duration of addict was 9.6 ± 8 SD years and 51.7% were opium addict, 18.3% heroin addict, 12.4% cannabis addict and others had addiction to more than one substance. The HCV risk behaviors were common in this population: intravenous drug use (18.6%), intranasal drug use (56.2%) and tattoos (56.1%). Two- hundred nine study subjects (45.4%) were HCV antibody positive that this rate was 88.9% among IV drug abusers. The HCV-positive status was significantly associated with history of intravenous drug use, having had tattoos, and previous in mating (P<0.05). Infection with hepatitis C is endemic in Iranian prisons. Better access to harm reduction strategies is needed in this environment and future studies should address the need for targeted HCV screening and education of prison inmates regarding risks for HCV.