I read with interest the recently published article by Norouzian et al. (1). The epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections has changed during the recent years and their endemicity is low (2, 3), but the prevalence of such infections in inmates with high-risk behaviors is still high (4). Norouzian et al. perfectly showed the main risk factors for such infections. The harm reduction program is an advanced one in Iran, which results in lower rates of such infections in the injection drug users (IDUs). HIV and HCV coinfection is directly related to the route of HIV transmission in the communities such as Turkey, which the most cases are related to sexual contact and the coinfection with HCV infection is low (5); while, in Iranian community it is related to intravenous drug abuse. Finally, I would like to mention that anti-HCV antibody-positive is not parallel to HCV infection and may be reported in some patients with the history of anti-HCV therapy or the ones who lost the infection. I suggest HCV RNA testing in the ones with anti-HCV antibody-positive response.
International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction
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Coinfections in Injection Drug Users Should be Interpreted Carefully
Author(s):
1Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Director of Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Tehran, IR Iran
Published online:Nov 12, 2017
Article type:Letter
Received:May 13, 2016
Accepted:Nov 29, 2016
How to Cite:Seyed Moayed AlavianCoinfections in Injection Drug Users Should be Interpreted Carefully.Int J High Risk Behav Addict.2017;6(4):e63192.https://doi.org/10.5812/ijhrba.63192.
References
- 1.Norouzian H, Gholami M, Shakib P, Goudarzi G, Diali HG, Rezvani A. Prevalence of HCV Infections and Co-Infection With HBV and HIV and Associated Risk Factors Among Addicts in Drug Treatment Centers, Lorestan Province, Iran. Int J High Risk Behav Addict. 2016;5(1).
- 2.Fattahi MR, Safarpour A, Sepehrimanesh M, Hosseini Asl SM, Mohamaddoust F. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and its related risk factors among the rural population of fars province, southern iran. Hepat Mon. 2015;15(2). e24734. [PubMed ID: 25788957]. https://doi.org/10.5812/hepatmon.24734.
- 3.Keyvani H, Sohrabi M, Zamani F, Poustchi H, Ashrafi H, Saeedian F, et al. A population based study on hepatitis B virus in northern iran, amol. Hepat Mon. 2014;14(8). e20540. [PubMed ID: 25237372]. https://doi.org/10.5812/hepatmon.20540.
- 4.Javadi AA, Avijgan M, Hafizi M. Prevalence of HBV and HCV infections and associated risk factors in addict prisoners. Iran J Public Health. 2006;35(4):33-6.
- 5.Aydin OA, Yemisen M, Karaosmanoglu HK, Sargin F, Gunduz A, Ceylan B, et al. Low Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among HIV-Positive Patients: Data From a Large-Scale Cohort Study in Istanbul, Turkey. Hepat Mon. 2014;14(8). e18128. [PubMed ID: 25337142]. https://doi.org/10.5812/hepatmon.18128.
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Copyright © 2017, International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.
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