Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and risk factors among drug users in Shijingshan district, Beijing

ObjectiveTo know the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the risk factors among the drug users and provide scientific evidence for the HCV infection control. MethodsStandardized questionnaire survey was conducted among 345 drug users in drug rehabilitation center from 2007 to 2008, and samples of venous blood (5 ml) were taken from them for anti-HCV testing. ResultsA total of 179 drug users were detected to be anti-HCV positive, the positive rate was 51.9% (95%CI：46.6%-57.3%), but the anti-HCV positive rate among intravenous drug users (IDUs) was 73.5% (169/230) and among IDUs sharing needle was 90.5% (76/84). ConclusionHCV infection was highly prevalent among the drug users in Shijingshan district. The risk factors for HCV infection include intravenous drug use and needle sharing. The epidemic might spread to general population.