High Prevalence of Chronic Hepatitis B Infection among Injection Drug Users in Iran: The Need to Increase Vaccination of Adults at Risk
-
Seyed Ahmad SeyedAlinaghi
,
Parastoo Kheirandish
,
Nazli Karami
,
Sepehr Salem
,
Hadi Shirzad
,
Mohammad Reza Jahani
,
Mohammad Reza SeyedAhmadian
,
Pegah Valiollahi
,
Mostafa Hosseini
,
Minoo Mohraz
,
Willi McFarland
Abstract
We measured the prevalence of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) among male injection drug users (IDUs) in Detention, Tehran, Iran. A cross-sectional survey included 499 male IDUs arrested by police during a predetermined police sweep in Tehran (February, 2006). A questionnaire was filled out for each individual. Blood specimens were collected for HBsAg testing. Prevalence of HBsAg was 5.8% (95% CI 3.6-7.9). The majority of chronic HBV infections, 69.2%, were among adults age 25 to 34 years. The high prevalence of HBsAg highlights the need for special efforts to increase vaccination among adult populations at risk for HBV infection in order to reducing continuing transmission and stave off future high burden of disease.
Lok ASF. Chronic Hepatitis B. N Engl J Med 2002; 346:1682-3.
Lee WM. Hepatitis B virus infection. N Engl J Med 1997; 337(24):1733-45.
Young MD, Schneider DL, Zuckerman AJ, Du W, Dickson B, Maddrey WC; US Hepacare Study Group. Adult hepatitis B vaccination using a novel triple antigen recombinant vaccine. Hepatology 2001;34(2):372-6.
Margolis HS, Alter MJ, Hadler SC. Hepatitis B: evolving epidemiology and implications for control. Semin Liver Dis1991;11(2):84-92.
Mast EE, Williams IT, Alter MJ, Margolis HS. Hepatitis Bvaccination of adolescent and adult high-risk groups in the United States. Vaccine 1998;16 Suppl:S27-9.
Kane M. Global programme for control of hepatitis B infection. Vaccine 1995;13 Suppl 1:S47-9.
Merat S, Malekzadeh R, Rezvan H, Khatibian M. Hepatitis B in Iran. Arch Iranian Med 2000;3:192-201.
Zali MR, Mohammad K, Noorbala AA, Noorimayer B, Shahraz S. Rate of hepatitis B seropositivity following mass vaccination in the Islamic Republic of Iran. East Mediterr Health J 2005;11(1-2):62-7.
Jafarzadeh A, Zarei S, Shokri F. Low dose revaccination induces robust protective anti-HBs antibody response in the majority of healthy non-responder neonates. Vaccine 2008;26(2):269-76.
Forouzanfar MH, Mohammad K, Majdzadeh R, Malekzadeh R, Abolhasani F, Mohammadnejad M, et al. effectiveness of adolescents' immunization against hepatitis B on burden of the disease in Iran. Hakim Res J 2006;9(2):1-11.
Razzaghi E, Rahimi A, Hosseini M, Chatterjee A. Rapid Situation Assessment (RSA) of Drug Abuse in Iran. Tehran: Prevention Department, State Welfare Organization, Ministry of Health, I.R. of Iran and United Nations International Drug Control Program, 1999.
Razzaghi EM, Rahimia Movaghar A, Craig Green T, et al. Profiles of risk: a qualitative study of injecting drug users in Tehran, Iran. Harm Reduct J 2006;3:12.
Jahani MR, Kheirandish P, Hosseini M, Shirzad H, Seyedalinaghi SA, Karami N, et al. HIV seroconversion among injection drug users in detention, Tehran, Iran. AIDS 2009;23(4):538-40.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 48, No 1 (2010) | |
| Section | Articles | |
| Keywords | ||
| Prevalence hepatitis B surface antigen drug users vaccination | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
