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A syndemic of COVID-19 and methanol poisoning in Iran: Time for Iran to consider alcohol use as a public health challenge?
Alcohol. 2020 09; 87:25-27.A

Abstract

Methanol poisoning has been a significant public health challenge for several decades in Iran. Even though alcohol use is highly criminalized, people consume illicit alcohol, which tends to be predominantly homemade and often contains methanol. Consequently, thousands of individual poisonings and hundreds of deaths annually are attributable to methanol poisoning. From February 19, 2020 through April 27, 2020, the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic rapidly expanded in Iran, and has been associated with 90,481 confirmed cases and 5710 confirmed deaths. Secondary to misinformation about the potential for alcohol to neutralize SARS-CoV-2, there has also been a significant escalation in methanol-related morbidity and mortality, with over 5000 people poisoned and over 500 confirmed deaths for the same period from February through April 2020. In some provinces, the case-fatality rate of methanol poisoning was higher than that from COVID-19. The high morbidity and mortality associated with methanol poisoning preceding and exacerbated by COVID-19 highlight the potential population level health impacts of the implementation of evidence-based education and harm reduction strategies focused on alcohol use across Iran.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Shokoohi M
HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: mostafa.shokoohi@utoronto.ca.
Nasiri N
HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Sharifi H
HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Baral S
Department of Epidemiology, Key Populations Program, Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Stranges S
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.

MeSH

Alcohol DrinkingBetacoronavirusCOVID-19Coronavirus InfectionsHumansIranMethanolPandemicsPneumonia, ViralPublic HealthSARS-CoV-2Syndemic

Pub Type(s)

Editorial

Language

eng

PubMed ID

32505493

Citation

Shokoohi, Mostafa, et al. "A Syndemic of COVID-19 and Methanol Poisoning in Iran: Time for Iran to Consider Alcohol Use as a Public Health Challenge?" Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), vol. 87, 2020, pp. 25-27.
Shokoohi M, Nasiri N, Sharifi H, et al. A syndemic of COVID-19 and methanol poisoning in Iran: Time for Iran to consider alcohol use as a public health challenge? Alcohol. 2020;87:25-27.
Shokoohi, M., Nasiri, N., Sharifi, H., Baral, S., & Stranges, S. (2020). A syndemic of COVID-19 and methanol poisoning in Iran: Time for Iran to consider alcohol use as a public health challenge? Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), 87, 25-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2020.05.006
Shokoohi M, et al. A Syndemic of COVID-19 and Methanol Poisoning in Iran: Time for Iran to Consider Alcohol Use as a Public Health Challenge. Alcohol. 2020;87:25-27. PubMed PMID: 32505493.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - A syndemic of COVID-19 and methanol poisoning in Iran: Time for Iran to consider alcohol use as a public health challenge? AU - Shokoohi,Mostafa, AU - Nasiri,Naser, AU - Sharifi,Hamid, AU - Baral,Stefan, AU - Stranges,Saverio, Y1 - 2020/06/04/ PY - 2020/04/19/received PY - 2020/05/27/revised PY - 2020/05/29/accepted PY - 2020/6/9/pubmed PY - 2020/9/8/medline PY - 2020/6/8/entrez KW - Iran KW - alcohol policy KW - methanol poisoning KW - prevention KW - public health models SP - 25 EP - 27 JF - Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) JO - Alcohol VL - 87 N2 - Methanol poisoning has been a significant public health challenge for several decades in Iran. Even though alcohol use is highly criminalized, people consume illicit alcohol, which tends to be predominantly homemade and often contains methanol. Consequently, thousands of individual poisonings and hundreds of deaths annually are attributable to methanol poisoning. From February 19, 2020 through April 27, 2020, the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic rapidly expanded in Iran, and has been associated with 90,481 confirmed cases and 5710 confirmed deaths. Secondary to misinformation about the potential for alcohol to neutralize SARS-CoV-2, there has also been a significant escalation in methanol-related morbidity and mortality, with over 5000 people poisoned and over 500 confirmed deaths for the same period from February through April 2020. In some provinces, the case-fatality rate of methanol poisoning was higher than that from COVID-19. The high morbidity and mortality associated with methanol poisoning preceding and exacerbated by COVID-19 highlight the potential population level health impacts of the implementation of evidence-based education and harm reduction strategies focused on alcohol use across Iran. SN - 1873-6823 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/32505493/A_syndemic_of_COVID_19_and_methanol_poisoning_in_Iran:_Time_for_Iran_to_consider_alcohol_use_as_a_public_health_challenge DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -