Prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, drug use, and sexual behaviors among street children in Iran: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Background and AimsStreet children face a disproportionately higher risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) due to high‐risk sexual and drug use practices. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of these infections and related risk behaviors among street children in Iran.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Web of Science (ISI), Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar for the English‐language records and Iranian databases, including SID, Magiran, and IRANDOC for the Farsi‐language records up to September 18, 2022. Random effects analysis was used to obtain prevalence estimates for each condition. Homogeneity across included studies was assessed using I2.ResultsWe extracted data from 18 eligible studies, representing 5646 children (83.2% boys), with a mean age of 10.2 (range: 5–18). The prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV were 0.79% (95% confidence intervals [CIs]: 0.0–5.56), 1.97% (95% CI: 1.01–3.19), and 1.88% (95% CI: 0.74–3.46), respectively. The prevalence of lifetime drug use and sexual abuse was 8.32% (95% CI: 4.83–12.62) and 10.18% (95% CI: 3.02–20.67) among street children, respectively.ConclusionThe estimated prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV among street children in Iran was higher than the estimates in the general population. Moreover, drug use and the experience of sexual abuse were prevalent among this population. These findings suggest the need for targeted prevention programs for street children in Iran.

Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infections among visceral leishmaniasis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…This indicates the increasing burden of viral hepatitis complicating VL patients that would affect the treatment outcomes resulting in disease severity and mortality. Although there was no previous data about the pooled prevalence of HBV and HCV on VL patients, systematic review and meta-analysis studies reported a combined prevalence of HBV and HCV; 13.7 and 24.7% ( Yu et al, 2020 ), 10.5 and 5.4% ( Kenfack-Momo et al, 2022 ), 4.8 and 1.0% ( Wu et al, 2023 ), 2.66 and 44.82% ( Aghaei et al, 2023 ), 1.97 and 1.88% ( Nasiri et al, 2023 ), and 2.89 and 21.57% ( Mehmandoost et al, 2022 ), respectively. This variation is due to the difference in study populations, hepatitis burden in geographic location, and healthcare provision systems.…”

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“…This indicates the increasing burden of viral hepatitis complicating VL patients that would affect the treatment outcomes resulting in disease severity and mortality. Although there was no previous data about the pooled prevalence of HBV and HCV on VL patients, systematic review and meta-analysis studies reported a combined prevalence of HBV and HCV; 13.7 and 24.7% (Yu et al, 2020), 10.5 and 5.4% (Kenfack-Momo et al, 2022), 4.8 and 1.0% (Wu et al, 2023), 2.66 and 44.82% (Aghaei et al, 2023), 1.97 and 1.88% (Nasiri et al, 2023), and 2.89 and 21.57% (Mehmandoost et al, 2022), respectively. This variation is due to the difference in study populations, hepatitis burden in geographic location, and healthcare provision systems.…”