Caspian J Intern Med 2019; 10(3):326-331 DOI: 10.22088/cjim.10.3.326 Original Article Ali Asghar Pouri (MD, PhD) 1 Morteza Ghojazadeh (PhD) 1 Behrouz Pourasghari (BSc) 2 Babak Baiaz (BSc) 2 Fatemeh Soghra hamzavi (BSc) 2 Mohammad Hossein Somi (MD) 1* 1. Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 2. Laboratory Department Imam Reza Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran * Correspondence: Mohammad Hossein Somi, Gulgasht Street, Imam Reza Hospital, first floor, Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center, Tabriz, Iran E-mail: dr.somi.m.h@gmail.com Tel: 0098 4133367473 Fax: 0098 4133367499 Received: 27 Dec 2018 Revised: 9 May 2019 Accepted: 20 May 2019 Seroepidemiology and risk factors of hepatitis C virus infection in East Azerbaijan, Iran: a population-based Azar Cohort study Abstract Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne virus. It is a major global public health problem and can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis. The aim of this study was to report the epidemiological features of HCV infection and risk factors based on the data from Azar Cohort, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Methods: The population of this study comprised the people in the age range of 35-70 years from Azar Cohort, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The study was conducted between 2015 and 2016. Based on cluster sampling, 4, 949 people were selected and invited to complete the questionnaire and perform the tests. Blood samples collected in this study were analyzed to detect the presence of antibodies against HCV using enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) Kit. The positive samples were re-tested by qualitative HCV-RNA polymerase chain reaction. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 software. Results: The mean age of the participants was 49.15±9.02 years. Of these participants, 54.3% (n=2686) were females. Seven people (0.14%) were detected as HCV positive and the highest frequency was seen in the age range of 40-50 (0.16%). There was a statistical significant relationship between history of hospitalization (P=0.02) and history of abnormal urine (P=0.01) with the frequency of HCV infection. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that the frequency of hepatitis C virus infection is 0.14% in the general population of Azar Cohort. Keywords: Hepatitis C, Seroepidemiology, Azar Cohort, Iran Citation: Pouri AA, Ghojazadeh M, Pourasghari B, et al. Seroepidemiology and risk factors of hepatitis C virus infection in East Azerbaijan, Iran: a population-based Azar Cohort study. Caspian J Intern Med 2019; 10(3): 326-331. H epatitis C is a liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). Acute HCV infection is usually asymptomatic and about 35% of the infected people spontaneously clear the virus infection within 6 months without any treatment (1). Meanwhile, 60-80% of HCV patients develop chronic hepatitis infection and 20% are at risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer, and approximately 350,000 people die every year from the complications of hepatitis C disease (2). The prevalence of hepatitis C in the world is an average of 3%, and about 185 million people are infected with hepatitis C virus (3). Hepatitis C virus is the second leading cause of chronic liver disease and the most important cause of liver cancer and liver transplantation (4). In terms of geographical dispersion among Middle Eastern countries, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus is often high in Egypt (14.5%), Pakistan (4%), Saudi Arabia (1.8%) and Yemen (1.1%) (5). Iran has a low hepatitis C prevalence in the region. According to a survey conducted in Iran, the seroprevalence of hepatitis C infection was 0.6% and the prevalence of viremia was 0.4% (6); 186,500 people were infected with HCV (7) and almost 80% of the infected people were unaware of their disease (8). Unfortunately, the prevalence of this virus is increasing in the country, which necessitates careful analysis of this disease with the aim of taking the related health decisions (9).