Co-infection by hepatitis C virus in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients in southwest of Iran

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has emerged as the cause of the second major epidemic of viral infection after human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) within the past two decades, and co-infection of HIV and HCV represents a growing problem for the future. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) in patients with HIV in Fars province.Patients and A total of 101 HIV-1-positive individuals (89 males, 12 females) from Fars province (Counseling Behavioral Modification Center in Shiraz) were included in the study. They were distributed according to risk factors for HIV infection as follows: 35(34.6%) IVDUs, 2(2%) sexual high-risk behavior, 50(49.5%) a combination of IVDUs and sexual behavior, 12(12%) from HIV positive partners and 2(2%) unknown. Detection of HCV antibodies was carried out by a third generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Totally, 87 (84 males, 3 females) of 101 HIV-infected patients (86.1%) had antibodies to HCV. The prevalence of HCV antibodies was higher among the males (83.2%) than the females (3%). The prevalence of HCV antibodies was 94.4% in IVDUs, 96% in individuals with both IVDUs and sexual behavior risk factors and 25% in women who had HIV-positive partner. All unknown cases were positive for HCV and none of individuals who had sexual high-risk behavior were infected with HCV. The overall prevalence of HCV infection in HIV-positive individuals was 84.1%. The consistently high prevalence of HCV infection observed in HIV infected individuals supports the routine screening for HCV and continuous educational programs in these patients, especially among IVDUs in Iran.