Identification of Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Persons with Background of Intravenous Drug Use: the First Community Announcement-Based Study From Iran

Objectives: injection drug use plays the most important role in transmissionof hepatitis c. in iran, surveys have been conducted on varioushigh risk groups but this is the first announcement based study forhepatitis c virus hcv prevalence among cases with history of intravenousdrug using (ivdu) in the country.methods: the announcement-based detection and follow-up of patientswith anti-hcv positive project in volunteers with history ofintravenous drug using was conducted in isfahan province. at the firststep, six focus groups were conducted and 2 pilot studies were carriedout in two cities to design the main study. comprehensive communityannouncement was done in all of public places and for physicians. thevolunteers were invited to isfahan reference laboratories and the serumsamples were sent to infectious diseases research center laboratoryin standard conditions and hcv-ab was tested by elisa method.results: in this study, 1,747 individuals that are estimated 50% of allexpected intravenous drug users in the community were presentedthemselves. the most important reasons of success in recruiting volunteersin this study were the perfect propaganda, appropriate cooperationof lab staffs, continuous evaluation and good cooperation in isfahanprovince administrations. hcv-ab was detected in 34% of themand the hcv-ab positives were sent for further follow-up proceduresincluding confirmatory test, education, and treatment.conclusions: in spite of some limitations to select real cases, thisstudy was considered as a successful experience. compared to the surveysin iran on hcv prevalence in intravenous drug users, the resultsof this study, which was based on volunteers by announcement seemsto be noteworthy.