Premium
Prevalence of hepatitis C infection in pregnant women in South Australia
Author(s) -
Garner Jennifer J,
Gaughwin Matt,
Dodding Jane,
Willson Kristyn
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1997.tb126673.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis c virus , odds ratio , hepatitis c , sexual transmission , multivariate analysis , blood transfusion , risk factor , hepatitis , body piercing , pregnancy , obstetrics , immunology , virus , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , surgery , microbicide , biology , genetics
Objectives To estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) seropositivity and known risk factors for HCV infection in a group of pregnant women. Design Cross‐sectional survey. Setting Lyell McEwin Health Service, Elizabeth, South Australia (a general public hospital with an annual average of about 2000 deliveries). Subjects 1537 consecutive women who delivered at the Lyell McEwin Health Service from February 1995 to December 1995. Outcome measures Presence of HCV antibodies; and associations between HCV‐antibody status and known risk factors. Results 17 women (1.1%) were HCV‐seropositive. Risk factors significantly more prevalent among HCV‐seropositive patients were: a history of injecting drug use, a past or present sexual partner who had injected drugs, having a tattoo and having been incarcerated. The proportions who had received a blood transfusion, had acquired a sexually transmitted disease or were positive for hepatitis B virus surface antigen were not significantly different between seropositive and seronegative women. Multivariate analysis showed that only injecting drug use remained a strong independent predictor of HCV‐seropositivity (odds ratio [OR], 50.1; P<0.001), while having a tattoo approached significance (OR, 3.5; P=0.07). Conclusion As only 1.1% of this sample of women were HCV‐seropositive, screening of all pregnant women does not seem warranted. Testing on the basis of a history of risk factors, such as injecting drug use and having a tattoo, would detect undiagnosed HCV infections more efficiently.