Intravenous Drug Use and Hepatitis C Virus in Iran

HCV infection is a global public health problem and can progress to cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death, with asymptomatic conditions and few short-term effects in the beginning (1, 2). It is expected that over the next decade, despite a declining incidence of new infections, mortality and associated costs will increase (1). Worldwide prevalence rates range from 0.01 to 20%, and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 3% of the world’s population (170 million) have been infected with HCV (3). Worldwide hepatitis C data show significant prevalence rates in high-risk populations, ranging from 30% to 50%, with injecting drug use being the predominant risk factor (4, 5). In most cases, HCV is spread parenterally, and research has identified intravenous and intranasal drug use, exposure to infected blood and blood products, and high-risk behaviors as risk factors in parenteral transmission (1). The variation in HCV prevalence creates the need for different preventive methods, community interventions, and therapeutic strategies based on economic and social variance (6).