Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Virol J. 2010 May 13;7:96. doi: 10.1186/1743-422X-7-96.
The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Lebanon, to establish the current prevalence of HCV genotypes in this population and to determine whether demographic characteristics and behavioral variables differ between participants who were HCV-RNA positive and those who were HCV-RNA negative or between the different genotypes. Participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling method. The blood samples were collected as dried blood spots and then eluted to be tested for HCV, HBV and HIV by ELISA. Anti-HCV positive samples were subjected to RNA extraction followed by qualitative detection and genotyping.
Among 106 IDUs, 56 (52.8%) were anti-HCV-positive. The two groups did not differ in terms of age, marital status, and nationality. As for the behavioral variable, there was a trend of increased risky behaviors among the HCV-RNA positive group as compared to the HCV-RNA negative group but none of the variables reached statistical significance. Half (50%) of the 56 anti-HCV-positive were HCV-RNA positive. Genotype 3 was the predominant one (57.1%) followed by genotype 1 (21%) and genotype 4 (18%).
The predominance of genotype 3 seems to be the predominant genotype among IDUs in Lebanon, a situation similar to that among IDUs in Western Europe. This study provides a base-line against possible future radical epidemiological variant that might occur in IDUs.
本研究旨在确定黎巴嫩注射吸毒者（IDUs）中抗 HCV 的流行率，确定该人群中 HCV 基因型的当前流行率，并确定 HCV-RNA 阳性和 HCV-RNA 阴性参与者之间或不同基因型之间的人口统计学特征和行为变量是否存在差异。参与者采用应答驱动抽样方法招募。采集血样作为干血斑，然后洗脱，通过 ELISA 检测 HCV、HBV 和 HIV。抗 HCV 阳性样本进行 RNA 提取，然后进行定性检测和基因分型。
在 106 名 IDUs 中，有 56 名（52.8%）抗 HCV 阳性。两组在年龄、婚姻状况和国籍方面没有差异。就行为变量而言，与 HCV-RNA 阴性组相比，HCV-RNA 阳性组的危险行为呈上升趋势，但没有一个变量具有统计学意义。56 名抗 HCV 阳性者中有一半（50%）HCV-RNA 阳性。基因型 3 是主要基因型（57.1%），其次是基因型 1（21%）和基因型 4（18%）。
基因型 3 的优势似乎是黎巴嫩 IDUs 中的主要基因型，这种情况类似于西欧 IDUs 中的情况。本研究为 IDUs 中可能发生的未来可能的激进流行病学变异提供了基线。
