Hepatitis C virus infection among the informal waste pickers in Aden, Yemen

Abstract Background This study aimed to determine the prevalence of and identify risk factors associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among informal waste pickers (IWPs) in Aden, Yemen Methods One hundred and forty-seven IWPs were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The collected blood samples were tested for anti-HCV antibodies by the Cobas technique. Results Out of 147 IWPs, the majority were males, 141 (95.9%), with a total mean ± SD age of 29.94 ± 13.95 years. The overall prevalence of HCV infection was 2.0%, and all HCV-positive cases (100%) were from the Khormaksar district and males, with age group 19–29 years, and had low income. A statistically significant association and more than twenty times the risk to HCV infection were observed among those IWPs living alone (OR: 20.44, 95% CI: 1.7-UD; p  = 0.019). The significant associations were also noticed among those exposed to needle-stick injuries and those exposed to biomedical waste (OR: 13 and 20.1, 95% CI: 1.1-UD and 4.3-UD; p = 0.054 and 0.006), respectively. There were more than eight times and nearly five times the significant risk among those exposed to blood transfusion and those whose duration of work as waste pickers was from 5 to 10 years (OR: 8.3 and 4.9, 95% CI: 0.73-94 and 4.3–55; p  = 0.106 and 0.213), respectively. Conclusion The HCV rate among IWPs in Aden, Yemen, was low and comparable to prevalence rates recorded among the general Yemeni population. Higher rates were found among male IWPs, those living in the Khormaksar district, and those with illiteracy and low income, those living alone, those exposed to needle-stick injuries, and those with 10–20 years of work experience. Further studies with larger sample sizes, involving nighttime waste pickers, and testing of other viral infections are recommended.