{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T10:26:40Z","timestamp":1773052000120,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,21]],"date-time":"2021-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637452800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"I.R.I Center for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention","award":["N\/A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N\/A"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: To realize the global goals of eliminating hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030, it is necessary to monitor the status of disease among target populations and undertake the required interventions. This study is the third round of surveys to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections among incarcerated individuals in different provinces of Iran. Methods: This study was conducted in five provinces of Iran (including Kurdistan, Ardabil, West Azerbaijan, Markazi, and Semnan) in 2019. The subjects of the study were selected from incarcerated people in prisons of all provinces that had not been studied in the previous two rounds of the surveys (in 2015 and 2016) in Iran. In this study, 15 prisons were selected and 2475 incarcerated individuals were enrolled into the study based on the multistage sampling method; the selected subjects were surveyed and their dried blood spot (DBS) samples were collected to test HBsAg and HCV-Ab. In cases with a reactive result for HCV-Ab, an HCV-RNA test was also performed on their serum samples. The relationships between independent variables and outcomes were evaluated via logistic regression. Results: Of all participants (2475 subjects) enrolled in the study, 54.18% were selected from northern provinces and 45.82% from the central provinces. The prevalence of HCV-Ab and HBsAg among incarcerated individuals was 5.66% (95% CI: 4.81% to 6.64%) and 2.42% (95% CI: 1.89% to 3.11%), respectively. Among HCV-seropositive individuals, 73.68% (95% CI: 64.70% to 81.01%) had current HCV infection (detectable HCV-RNA). The results showed that histories of imprisonment, drug use, unprotected sexual contact, drug injection, tattooing, and younger age in the first-time drug use in incarcerated individuals significantly increased the risk of HCV transmission. Among these behaviors, drug injection was more likely than other behaviors to result in contracting HCV in incarcerated individuals (OR: 22.91; 95% CI: 14.92\u201335.18; p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: To achieve international and national strategies targeted to eliminate HCV and HBV by 2030, it is necessary to pay special attention to prisons in Iran. It is recommended to continue HBV vaccination of eligible people in prisons. Developing screening and treatment protocols for individuals with HCV infection in prisons can help the country to achieve HCV elimination goals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens10111522","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,21]],"date-time":"2021-11-21T21:00:50Z","timestamp":1637528450000},"page":"1522","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Prevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Infections among Incarcerated Individuals in Iran: A Cross-Sectional National Bio-behavioral Study in 2019"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2612-6528","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ghobad","family":"Moradi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj 6617713446, Iran"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj 6617713446, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Seyed Moayed","family":"Alavian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Middle East Liver Diseases Center, Tehran 1598976513, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8829-4864","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fatemeh","family":"Gholami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rashid","family":"Ramezani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, Tehran 141994347, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leila","family":"Ahangarzadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medical Education, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1985717443, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yousef","family":"Moradi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj 6617713446, Iran"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj 6617713446, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9177-9117","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heidar","family":"Sharafi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Middle East Liver Diseases Center, Tehran 1598976513, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2017). 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