Hepatitis Monthly
Mohammad Reza Ghadir1,*, Mohammad Reza Ghadir1,*, 
Mojtaba Belbasi2, Mojtaba Belbasi2, Akram Heidari2, Akram Heidari3, Mahboobeh Jandagh2, Mahboobeh Jandagh4, Iman Ahmadi2, Iman Ahmadi4, Hosseinali Habibinejad3, Hosseinali Habibinejad5, Alireza Kabiri2, Alireza Kabiri2, Amir Hossein Ghanooni2, Amir Hossein Ghanooni4, Abolfazl Iranikhah2, Abolfazl Iranikhah6, Seyed Moayed Alavian3, Seyed Moayed Alavian7Hepatitis B is the most common chronic viral infection in humans and the most common cause of death among viral hepatitis. As 70% to 80% of chronic hepatitis cases are caused by HBV in Iran, this virus alone is considered the most important cause of liver diseases and the major cause of mortality arising from viral hepatitis cases in Iran.
We planned this study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B in the general population of Qom, central Iran.
The present study is a cross-sectional study. A total of 3690 samples were collected from 7 rural clusters and 116 urban clusters. Ten teams, each consisting of 2 trained members, were assigned to conduct the sampling and fill the questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS.
The prevalence rate of hepatitis B infection in Qom Province was 1.3%. The mean age of the patients with hepatitis B was 44.17 years. The prevalence of hepatitis B was 1.6% in men and 1.1% in women. Moreover, the prevalence of hepatitis B correlated positively with age, tattooing, and literacy level.
The prevalence rate of hepatitis B in Qom is 1.3%. It is possible to prevent the disease by increasing public awareness. Further investigation on clinical presentations and a determination of the genotype of the virus are suggested.
© 2012, Author(s). This open-access article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
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