Infections and Behçet Disease

Behçet disease (BD) is a chronic multisystem disorder of unknown etiology characterized by various degrees of vasculitis affecting all sizes of blood vessels (Davatchi, 2018 [1]). BD is thought to be an autoinflammatory disease, triggered by exogenous factors like environmental pollutants or infections, in genetically susceptible individuals (Islam et al., 2021 [2]). BD is also known as “Silk Road disease,” and its prevalence in the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and the Far East is significantly higher than in Europe and the United States. The incidence of BD varies worldwide, ranging from 3.3 to 31.8 cases per 100,000 population (Mahr et al., 2008; Yazici et al., 2008 [3, 4]). The criteria for the classification of BD was proposed by the International Study Group in 1990, then reviewed in 2006 at the International Conference of BD, in Lisbon, Portugal, with the creation of the International Criteria for BD (Criteria for diagnosis of Behcet's disease, 1990 [5]). However, the latter were improved by an international team for the revision of the International Criteria for BD in 2013 (International Team for the Revision of the International Criteria for Behcet's D, 2014 [6]).