seroepidemiology of hepatitis c among drug users at a detoxification center in southeast china

Background: hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is prevalent worldwide, especially among drug users. the epidemiology of hcv is rarely reported among drug users in developing countries, including china. objectives:we aimed to describe the seroepidemiology of hcvinfection in drug users at a detoxification center in southeast china. methods: with approval from the shantou center for disease control, the archived data of drug users (n = 5,228) at the largest monitored-detoxification center in shantou during 2011 - 2017 were analyzed for demographics, risk behaviors, and hcv serology. results: among hcv-tested drug users, 36.9% (1930/5228) were people who inject drugs (pwid). the mean annual hcv seroprevalence rate over the seven-year study period was 36.3% for all drug users, including 67.3% and 16.6% for pwid and non-pwid, respectively, with the highest prevalence (78.1%) in 2017 and the lowest prevalence (58.6%) in 2015 for pwid. independent risk factors of hcv infection identified by multiple logistic regression analysis were engaging in unprotected sex (or = 1.553, 95% ci = 1.078 - 2.236), injecting drugs (10.28, 8.98 - 11.763), and sharing needles/syringes (2.24, 1.129 - 4.445) for all drug users and sharing needles/syringes (2.062, 1.438 - 2.957) for pwid. conclusions: this study reports the seroepidemiology of drug users in the monitored detoxification center in southeast china. a relatively high hcv positivity rate, especially among pwid, their high-risk behaviors and low education, and lack of institutional interventions of hcvmonitoringandtransmission call for government-sponsored educationalprogramsto raisedrugusers’ awareness of the risk of hcvinfection and other co-infections and monitoring of the infectious status and treatment of hcv-infected drug users.