Taherkhani R, Farshadpour F. Lurking epidemic of hepatitis C virus infection in Iran: A call to action. World J Hepatol 2017; 9(24): 1040-1042 [PMID: 28932350 DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i24.1040]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Fatemeh Farshadpour, PhD, the Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Moallem Street, Bushehr 7514633341, Iran. f.farshadpour@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Letters To The Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Hepatol. Aug 28, 2017; 9(24): 1040-1042 Published online Aug 28, 2017. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i24.1040
Lurking epidemic of hepatitis C virus infection in Iran: A call to action
Reza Taherkhani, Fatemeh Farshadpour
Reza Taherkhani, the Persian Gulf Biomedical Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr 7514633341, Iran
Fatemeh Farshadpour, the Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr 7514633341, Iran
Author contributions: Taherkhani R and Farshadpour F both contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest in the content of this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Fatemeh Farshadpour, PhD, the Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Moallem Street, Bushehr 7514633341, Iran. f.farshadpour@yahoo.com
Telephone: +98-91-71712653 Fax: +98-77-14550235
Received: May 4, 2017 Peer-review started: May 4, 2017 First decision: June 15, 2017 Revised: June 19, 2017 Accepted: July 14, 2017 Article in press: July 17, 2017 Published online: August 28, 2017
Abstract
Despite having a relatively low prevalence in the Iranian general population, the burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is on the rise, and hepatitis C is predicted to be the most important leading cause of viral hepatitis-related mortality in the near future in Iran. The recent population-based epidemiological studies have revealed the predominant role of injecting drug use in increasing prevalence of HCV infection. Undoubtedly, new management paradigm is required to drive down the rising wave of hepatitis C in Iran. Priority should be given to young injecting drug users as the cornerstone of the lurking epidemic of HCV infection in Iran.
Core tip: Iran is known as a low-endemic country for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, while the recent population-based epidemiological studies have revealed the increasing burden of HCV infection in the Iranian population. The asymptomatic nature of HCV infection and the undiagnosed HCV-infected injecting drug users have fueled this increase. Obviously, the current management paradigm is inadequate if control of HCV infection is aimed to be achieved.
