Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Antibodies among University Students at Cihan University–Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24086/cuesj.v10n1y2026.pp106-109Keywords:
Hepatitis C virus, prevalence, chronic infection, cirrhosisAbstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a clinically significant pathogen due to the serious complications that infection with this virus can cause. The chronicity rate following initial infection ranges between 50% and 70%, potentially progressing to liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, both of which are fatal. As a blood-borne virus, there is a risk of transmission to medical students during clinical training or laboratory work. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence rate of anti-HCV among medical department undergraduate students at Cihan University in Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Out of the 700 tested students, 2 showed positive results for HCV antibodies, indicating a total prevalence of 0.28%. Positive tested students for HCV antibodies were male, which indicates 0.55% (2/361), while 0 (0.00%) of the 339 female students tested positive. This study showed a relatively low prevalence of HCV antibodies among students at Cihan University-Erbil. However, even this low prevalence indicates the incidence of HCV infection among university students, who represent a broad part of society. The presence of HCV-antibodies in students of medical colleges and departments may indicate that these students acquired hepatitis C infection during practical training in hospitals or medical laboratories.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Salaheddin M. Shehade, Ameena S. M. Juma, Muhsin H. Ubeid, Hassan Mahmood Jindal, Mirzan M. Omer, Mustafa D Younus
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