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Background: People who use drugs, particularly injection drug users (IDUs) are known as the major source of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of HCV infection using rapid point-of-care testing and to assess liver fibrosis by non-invasive lab tests among addict populations of Mashhad, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, drug users who referred to drug treatment and harm reduction centers of Mashhad were enrolled during March and December 2019. A rapid test kit was used to assess the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and a realtime PCR was performed to confirm the infection. The AST-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score were used to investigate liver fibrosis in patients with positive HCV RNA. A P value <0.05 was considered as significant. Results: A total of 390 drug users aged 15-74 years were assessed. Sixty-four individuals showed positive results for anti-HCV (16.4%), of whom 58 blood samples were available for PCR test. The viremic rate among the latter group was calculated at 84.5% (49/58); the total viremia prevalence was 12.8% (49/384). Multivariate analysis revealed that being single (P = 0.040) or divorced/ widow (P = 0.011) and history of drug injection (P < 0.001) and tattoos (P = 0.021) were significantly associated with current HCV infection. Using APRI and FIB-4 indices, significant liver fibrosis was identified in 14.3% and 18.4% of cases, respectively. Conclusion: HCV infection screening using rapid tests and examining liver fibrosis by non-invasive lab tests appear to be practicable and useful among poor populations in settings such as drug treatment centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is among the main public health concerns with around 200 thousand infected cases in Iran. The World Health Organization (WHO) aims towards eliminating HCV by 2030. Conducting face-to-face awareness-raising campaigns is one of the most important measures taken to reach that aim, but doing so takes a lot of time and energy and the effectiveness is in question. Objective: Our objective was to design, develop, and evaluate an informing mobile application and also a social media bot to raise awareness about HCV infection. Material and Methods: We designed a mobile application (HepC) and a social media bot (Hepatobot) which provide the users with information on HCV infection social stigma, transmission, prevention, diagnosis, cure, statistics, and the closest health centers' contact details. A pre-test is designed inside the application which evaluates the users' knowledge before using the app and gives them a background on the most important points they're going to learn. We also designed an optional posttest on the homepage to help us inspect the application's effectiveness and also for the users to assess what they learned. Results: The application and bot were both designed and developed under the supervision of an expert in the HCV infection field. The application and bot both received positive reviews after the initial release. Conclusion: Considering the increasing usage of smartphones, alternating face-to-face awareness-raising campaigns with informing applications and bots can accelerate the process, save resources, and increase the efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]