[Hepatitis C in Egypt, a iatrogenic epidemy]

Between 1918 and 1982, millions of patients suffering from bilharzia (infection by Schistosoma mansoni) in Egypt were treated with a series of injections with potassium-antimony tartrate. During large campaigns, aimed at the eradication of the parasite, syringes and needles were re-used without being properly sterilized. This has led to a wide spread of the hepatitis C virus, by which the prevalence of hepatitis C in Egypt is now the highest in the world. The results of this iatrogene epidemic will be devastating.