Iranian Journal of

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Background and objectives: People with thalessemia and chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis are prone to blood-born infections, especially hepatitis C due to the long-term transfusion. Recently, hepatitis C has been one of the main health concerns in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C and its risk factors in these groups of patients in Kerman province of Iran.
Methods: HCV RNA in blood sample of 384 patients (203 hemodialysis cases and 181 thalassemia cases) was evaluated.
Results: One hundred thirty (130) out of 384 were infected by HCV. Infected male was predominant (83%).
Conclusions: It seems that the frequency of hepatitis C infection in Kerman is higher than the other provinces of Iran. Therefore more attention should be paid to screen of blood before transfusing for these group of patients.

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Background and Objectives: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infections could affect the prognosis of disease in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS. We aimed to determine HBV/HCV co-infection in HIV-positive individuals; and to compare the characteristics of different subgroups of HIV/HBV/HCV.
 
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 908 of 2134 newly-registered HIV-positive individuals in the Iranian Ministry of Health in 2016 were recruited. Participants were divided into four subgroups (HBV-/HCV-, HBV+/HCV-, HBV-/HCV+, and HBV+/HCV+). Demographic data and HIV transmission routes were compared between subgroups.
 
Results: Among908 participants, 505 (60.6%) were HBV-/HCV-, 20 (2.2%) were HBV+/HCV-, 318 (35%) were HBV-/HCV+, and 20 (2.2%) were HBV+/HCV+. Mean age of participants was 36.9 years; 67% were male and 47% were married. The commonest high-risk behaviors were unsafe sex (43.5%) and IV drug-abuse (34.4%). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean ages of subgroups. All HBV+/HCV+ ,92% of HBV-/HCV+, 50% of HBV+/HCV- and 52% of HBV-/HCV- were men and the difference between groups was statistically significant (p-value: <0.001). Seventy four percent of HBV-/HCV+ and 80% of HBV+/HCV+ reported IV drug-abuse. Thirty percent of HBV-/HCV- and 40% of HBV+/HCV- were spouse of HIV-positive or high-risk individuals.
 
Conclusion: More than 30% of newly registered HIV-positive individuals in the Iranian Ministry of Health in 2016 were co-infected with either HBV or HCV. Frequency of men, marital status and high-risk behaviors were different in various subgroups.

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Background and Objectives: Immune deficiency syndrome is an epidemic disease. During immunodeficiency caused by HIV, infections such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C may occur. Given that the transmission of these infections is similar to that of HIV, the risk of HIV infection with these infections is high. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of common HIV infections and the related risk factors in HIV positive individuals.
 
Method:This study was conducted as a retrospective cohort study performed on 3047 HIV patients at Imam Khomeini Counseling Center in Tehran who have been admitted in 2004 -2018.Required data were extracted from patient records and entered into Excel software. For data analysis, SPSS version 21 was used.
 
Results: The mean age of the patients was 44.24 ± 9.46 years and 77.3% of them were male. Of them, 98 (3.2%) were co-infected with hepatitis B, 961 (31.5%) were co-infected with hepatitis C, and 415 (13.6%) were co-infected with tuberculosis. According to the results, hepatitis B and hepatitis C had a significant  association with age, marital status, gender, education, prison history, history of injection, history of addiction, and needle sharing.
 
Conclusion: Due to the common route of HIV transmission and these infections, there is the possibility of co-infection. The demographic variables and behavioral factors are the most effective risk factors for developing co-infections.