Hepatitis B, C virus co-infection and behavioral risks in HIV-positive patients in southern Iran

Objective: to determine the risk factors and frequency of hepatitis b and c virus co-infections in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients. methods: the cross-sectional study was conducted at the control of diseases centre of kerman medical university, southern iran, between may and december 2011. demographic features and history of high-risk behaviours were evaluated in 165 patients positive for human immunodeficiency virus. third-generation hepatitis c virus antibody and hepatitis b surface antigen tests were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. spss 18 was used for statistical analysis. results: out of the 165 patients, 136 (82.4%) were male and 29 (17.6%) were female. the mean age of the subjects was 40.4±9 years. positive hepatitis c antibody was found in 122 (73.9%) and positive hepatitis b surface antigen was present in 6 (3.6%). frequency of all three viruses co-infection was 3 (1.8%). history of imprisonment (or= 17.5; 95% ci: 7.1-43.1) and drug injection addiction (or= 15.3; 95% ci: 6.4-36.1) were the most significant risk factors involved in hepatitis c virus co-infection. conclusion: seroprevalence of hepatitis c virus and human immunodeficiency virus co-infection was high and it was strongly related to history of imprisonment and drug injection addiction.