Hepatitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hepatitis, including details on hepatitis a, b, c, causes, symptoms.

Case-control study of risk factors associated with hepatitis C virus infection among pregnant women in hospitals of Karachi-Pakistan.

Khan UR, Janjua NZ, Akhtar S, Hatcher J

Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. uzma.khan@aku.edu

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among pregnant women seeking antenatal care in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: We enrolled 119 cases and 238 controls. Cases were enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA III) positive pregnant women for antibodies to HCV; controls were anti-HCV ELISA negative pregnant women. RESULTS: The mean age of study subjects was 26 years (SD 5) ranging from 15 to 50 years. The mean number of pregnancies for cases was 4 (SD 3) and for controls was 3 (SD 2). Among cases an average number of injections in any month was 40%, history of hospitalization was 61% and household contact with jaundice or hepatitis was 35%. In the final multivariable logistic regression model, five or more gestations (aOR = 1.99; 95% CI = 1.08-3.33), > or =1 injection (aOR = 2.33; 95% CI = 1.38-3.91) per month, hospitalization (aOR = 1.78; 95% CI = 1.01-2.99) and household contact with jaundice/hepatitis (aOR = 3.32; 95% CI = 1.89-5.83) were independently associated with HCV. CONCLUSION: Iatrogenic exposure (health care injections, hospitalizations and gestations) is the major risk factor for transmission of HCV among pregnant women.

Published 16 May 2008 in Trop Med Int Health, 13(6): 754-61.
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