Prevalence of Shigellosis in Iranian Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Background:

Shigellosis is an acute infection in the intestine and leads to bloody diarrhea. Children under 5 years old, the elderly, and immunocompromised people are at a higher risk of contracting this disease. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence of shigellosis in Iranian children.

Materials and Methods:

 This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis by examining the Scientific Information Database (SID), Medline (PubMed), Science Direct, and Google Scholar until August 2023. Extracted data were analyzed using comprehensive meta-analysis software (version 2).

Results:

In the review of 15 studies with a sample size of 18336 children, the I² heterogeneity test showed high heterogeneity (I²: 99.07), and based on this, the random effects method was used to analyze the results. Based on the meta-analysis, the prevalence of shigellosis in Iranian children was 13.4 (95% CI: 7.6-22.7).

Conclusion:

The results of the present study show that the prevalence of shigellosis in Iranian children is high and requires more information and care of children through health measures and health education, as well as control of children's nutrition through the cooperation of the Ministry of Health and Education.