Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among prisoners in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major public health problems both in developed and developing countries. Prison represents a high-risk environment for prisoners, in that it is characterized by high-risk behaviors such as injecting drug use (IDU), tattooing, unprotected sexual intercourses, or sharing syringes. The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the prevalence of HCV among Iranian prisoners conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsWe searched different scholarly databases including Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, ISI/Web of Sciences, the Cochrane library, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO as well as Iranian bibliographic thesauri (namely, Barakatns, MagIran, and SID) up to December 2017. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the studies included. HCV prevalence rate with its 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated using the DerSimonian-Laird random-effects model, with Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation. Egger’s regression test was used to evaluate publication bias.ResultsFinally, 17 articles were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Overall, 18,693 prisoners were tested. Based on the random-effects model, the prevalence of HCV among Iranian prisoners was 28% (CI 95% 21–36) with heterogeneity of I2 = 99.3% (p = 0.00). All studies used an ELISA test for the evaluation of HCV antibodies. The findings of this study showed that the highest prevalence rate (53%) was among prisoners who inject drugs.ConclusionThe findings of our study showed that the prevalence of HCV among Iranian prisoners is dramatically high. Managing this issue in Iran’s prisons requires careful attention to the availability of health facilities and instruments, such as screening, and harm reduction policies, such as giving sterile syringes and needles to prisoners. An integrated program of training for prisoners, prison personnel and medical staff is also needed to improve the level of health condition in prisons.

Hepatotoxicity and virological breakthrough of HCV following treatment with sofosbuvir, daclatasvir, and ribavirin in patients previously treated for tuberculosis

“…Although, the causal link between TB and HCV has not been developed but a population‐based study conducted in China indicated that patients infected with HCV easily acquire active TB disease . In addition to this, the screening of HCV in patients with TB is also necessary for proper management of both infections …”

Household Food Insecurity and Its Association with Self-reported Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Among Household Mothers in Southeast of Iran

“…In Iran, based on a systematic review, the prevalence of food insecurity in households is 49.0% (18). In a study Health Scope.…”

“…In a systematic review and metaanalysis conducted in Iran, the prevalence of food insecurity in households was 49% (18). In Iran, no study has investigated the association between food insecurity and infectious and parasitic diseases.…”

Edukasi Kesehatan sebagai Upaya Preventif Penyakit Hepatitis B dan C pada Warga Binaan Pemasyarakatan

“…Bahkan tidak sedikit masyarakat yang berpendapat bahwa vaksin itu diharamkan oleh agama (Ahmed et al, 2018). Di sisi lain, vaksin untuk mencegah penyakit Hepatitis C belum berhasil ditemukan (Kudesia dan Wreghitt, 2009 (Kivimets et al, 2018) dan Iran (Behzadifar et al, 2018).…”

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