Epidemiology of Hepatitis C in Iran and the World.

[摘要] Abstract::HepatitisCvirus(HCV)infectioncreatesasignificantburdentohealthcaresystem.Theepidemiologicalcharacteristicsandriskfactorsfortransmissionvaryacrosscountries.AliteraturereviewofpublishedscientificreportsonHCVepidemiologyinIranandsummarizeoffindingsofsomecountrieswasperformed.PrevalenceofhepatitisCinIranrangesfrom0.5%to0.97%inblooddonors,19.3%inpatientswiththalassemia,19.6%inpatientsonmaintenancehemodialysis,31.5%ofdrugabuserinmatesinaprisonofHamadan,45.4%ofinmatesand88.9%ofintravenousdrugabusersofaprisoninGuilanwereHCVantibodypositive.Theriskofinfectionrelatedtoinjectiondruguseandhealthcareservingarethemostimportantforstillgrowingnumberofinfectedpersons.Expansionofharm-reducinginterventionsfordrugusers,andeducatingpreventiveprogramsintargetedhigh-riskbehaviorspopulationswillimproveinfectionspreadinourcountry.Designappropriatepublichealthstrategiesbyinvolvementofregionalhealthagenciesforeducation,supervisingaddictioncontrolandestablishpoliciesfortheappropriateuseofinjections,sterileprinciplesinhealthcare-relatedprocedures,andimprovementinbloodtransfusionsafetyincountrieswithhighdrugtraffickingandinsufficienthealthandsocialresourcesisneeded.ControlofHCVtransmissionrequirescontinuousmonitoring,surveillanceandprevention.

[学科分类] 基础医学

[关键词] Epidemiology;hepatitis C virus;transmission;risk behaviors;Iran;world