Prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV infections and high-risk behaviors among women referred to drop-in centers of Lorestan province, western Iran.

Abstract

HIV, HBV, and HCV are known as the most common blood-borne viral infections worldwide. Individuals referring to drop-in centers (DICs) are considered as high-risk people exposed to infection with theses blood-borne viruses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV infections among women referred to DICs in the western province of Lorestan, Iran. During the present cross-sectional study, after obtaining informed consent and a questionnaire, two blood samples were collected from 118 women referred to Lorestan DICs to be evaluated for HIV, HBV, and HCV infections. Accordingly, the samples were first screened by using the most common serological methods, and then by Real Time-PCR to detect viral genomes. The results were analyzed using Chi-square statistical test and binary logistic regressions. Out of the studied 118 blood samples, 8 (6.8%), 4 (3.4%), and 10 (8.5%) subjects tested positive for HIV, HBV, and HCV infection, respectively. Furthermore, our study showed that 5 (4.2%) subjects were positive for HCV/HIV coinfection, and 3 (2.5%) cases for HBV/HCV coinfection. Moreover, our data revealed that incarceration and STDs were the most important risk factors for HIV (OR=15.27 (95% CI; 3.74 - 62.89); P value=0.01) and HBV (OR=16 (95% CI; 1.57 - 42.34); P value=0.018) infections, respectively. Our results suggest that women referring to DICs are at risk of infection with blood-borne viruses such as HIV, HBV, and HCV, due to risky behaviors. Thus, precise diagnostic testing and implementation of preventive methods against blood and sexually transmitted infections are urgent in these high-risk groups.