The History of Trachoma and Current Prevalence (Spotlight on Iran): A Review Article

BACKGROUND: Trachoma as a common cause of infectious blindness is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. This study aimed to review the available data from variety of sources and provide an overview of the epidemiological situation of Trachoma in Iran focused on the past seventy five years. METHODS: A literature search of English and Farsi articles regarding trachoma in Iran from the electronic databases and paper documents was performed. Original articles, case reports and letters were included. RESULTS: By the early and mid-20(th) century, trachoma was widely endemic with the prevalence rate of more than 60% in Iran. Currently, trachoma prevalence is significantly lower than in the past and the elimination of trachoma is achievable in the near future. The decline in active disease is mainly attributed to improvement of socio-economic situation and personal and environmental hygiene rather than targeted interventions for epidemic control. CONCLUSION: Elimination of trachoma in Iran is achievable. However, trachoma prevalence estimation is required to be interpreted with some caution. Uncertainty around these estimates is partly because of the mismatch between the presence of infection and clinical findings.