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Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon

Hepatitis C is a hepatotropic virus that causes progressive liver inflammation, eventually leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma if left untreated. All infected patients can achieve a cure if treated early. Unfortunately, many patients remain asymptomatic and tend to present late with he...

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Autores principales: Ayoub, Nour, Hatab, Taha, Bizri, Abdul Rahman
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10057017/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36986354
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12030432
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author Ayoub, Nour
Hatab, Taha
Bizri, Abdul Rahman
author_facet Ayoub, Nour
Hatab, Taha
Bizri, Abdul Rahman
author_sort Ayoub, Nour
collection PubMed
description Hepatitis C is a hepatotropic virus that causes progressive liver inflammation, eventually leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma if left untreated. All infected patients can achieve a cure if treated early. Unfortunately, many patients remain asymptomatic and tend to present late with hepatic complications. Given the economic and health burdens of chronic hepatitis C infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a strategy to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. This article describes the epidemiology of hepatitis C in Lebanon and highlights the challenges hindering its elimination. An extensive search was conducted using PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health–Epidemiologic Surveillance Unit website. Obtained data were analyzed and discussed in light of the current WHO recommendations. It was found that Lebanon has a low prevalence of hepatitis C. Incidence is higher among males and Mount Lebanon residents. A wide variety of hepatitis C genotypes exists among various risk groups, with genotype 1 being the most predominant. In Lebanon, many barriers prevent successful hepatitis C elimination, including the absence of a comprehensive screening policy, stigma, neglect among high-risk groups, economic collapse, and a lack of proper care and surveillance among the refugees. Appropriate screening schemes and early linkage to care among the general and high-risk populations are essential for successful hepatitis C elimination in Lebanon.
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spelling pubmed-100570172023-03-30 Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon Ayoub, Nour Hatab, Taha Bizri, Abdul Rahman Pathogens Review Hepatitis C is a hepatotropic virus that causes progressive liver inflammation, eventually leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma if left untreated. All infected patients can achieve a cure if treated early. Unfortunately, many patients remain asymptomatic and tend to present late with hepatic complications. Given the economic and health burdens of chronic hepatitis C infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a strategy to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. This article describes the epidemiology of hepatitis C in Lebanon and highlights the challenges hindering its elimination. An extensive search was conducted using PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health–Epidemiologic Surveillance Unit website. Obtained data were analyzed and discussed in light of the current WHO recommendations. It was found that Lebanon has a low prevalence of hepatitis C. Incidence is higher among males and Mount Lebanon residents. A wide variety of hepatitis C genotypes exists among various risk groups, with genotype 1 being the most predominant. In Lebanon, many barriers prevent successful hepatitis C elimination, including the absence of a comprehensive screening policy, stigma, neglect among high-risk groups, economic collapse, and a lack of proper care and surveillance among the refugees. Appropriate screening schemes and early linkage to care among the general and high-risk populations are essential for successful hepatitis C elimination in Lebanon. MDPI 2023-03-09 /pmc/articles/PMC10057017/ /pubmed/36986354 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12030432 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Ayoub, Nour
Hatab, Taha
Bizri, Abdul Rahman
Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon
title Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon
title_full Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon
title_fullStr Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon
title_full_unstemmed Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon
title_short Challenges Facing Viral Hepatitis C Elimination in Lebanon
title_sort challenges facing viral hepatitis c elimination in lebanon
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10057017/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36986354
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12030432
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