Evidence of Exposure and Occurrence of Hepatitis C Virus Among Drug Users of Swat, Pakistan

Drug users constitute a leading risk group associated with Hepatitis C infection. In Pakistan, a large number of drug users retain Hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the current study, occurrence of HCV was assessed in drug users of Swat, Pakistan. A total of 128 study subjects were enrolled and anti-HCV screening was carried out clinically. Seropositive samples were analyzed for the presence of viremia. Results indicated seroprevalence in 37.5% and active infection in 24.21% of the included drug users. HCV occurrence was found higher in males (93.54%) as compared to females (P= 0.7822). Age wise, age group 31-45 was found to have the highest (70.96%) HCV occurrence (P= 0.0022). Based on the type of drug users, injection drug users (IDUs) category was found highly affected (58.06%) with HCV infection (P= 0.1346). Awareness programs should be initiated and preventive strategies must be strictly implemented by government and administrative units to curtail the spread of HCV in drug users