Hepatitis A Is a Health Hazard for Iranian Pilgrims Who Go to Holly Karbala: A Preliminary Report

BACKGROUND: Iraq is a highly endemic area for the prevalence of hepatitis A and annually hosts a large number of Iranian pilgrims, most of whom are susceptible to infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV). OBJECTIVES: This study reports the health hazard of hepatitis A for Iranian pilgrims who go to holly Karbala from the Mazandaran province. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the data of all patients with acute hepatitis A admitted in the Razi teaching hospital from November 23, 2014 to January 24, 2015, with a history of recently returning from holly Karbala or being exposed to Karbala pilgrims, were registered. RESULTS: A total number of nine patients were registered. Seven patients were male and two were female. The mean age was 30.11 ± 10.09.Two patients were from the same family. All patients had typical symptoms of acute hepatitis A. None of the patients died nor did fulminant occur in any patients. In addition, all patients were treated with supportive treatment and subsequently recovered. CONCLUSIONS: This number of pilgrim patients with acute hepatitis A from a single province compels us to conduct more evaluations and follow up monitoring on all persons travelling to Karbala and be sensitive to early diagnoses of the pilgrims. In the future, it is important to be mindful of administering the HAV vaccine and Ig.