Title: Burden of HCV infection among pregnant women with assessment of risk factors and pregnancy outcome in HCV infected: A hospital based study from Uttarakhand

Authors: Purnima Upreti, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Vandna Arya

 DOI:  https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i1.159

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis-C is a global health problem. Risk factors for HCV infection include intravenous drug use, transfusion of infected blood or blood products, unsafe therapeutic injections and surgical, dental procedures with improperly sterilized instruments. With rising incidence of HCV infection, a significant number of pregnant women are getting affected. However, there is little research regarding the burden and impact of HCV infection on pregnancy.

Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate burden and impact of HCV infection among pregnant women in a tertiary care centre of Uttarakhand. The objectives were to find out seroprevalence of Hepatitis-C among pregnant women, study the socio-demographic profile and risk factor profile of anti HCV positive pregnant women, to study the pregnancy outcome in anti HCV pregnant women and evaluate the need for universal antenatal screening for HCV infection.

Material and Methods: A retrospective hospital record based study of all pregnant women delivered in Dr. Sushila Tiwari Government Hospital, Haldwani between January 2014 and December 2015 was carried out. . All the pregnant women coming to the hospital are routinely screened for HCV infection as per standard protocol of the hospital. HCV status of all delivered patients was studied. A predesigned semi-structured proforma was used for collecting information regarding socio-demographic variables, risk factors and pregnancy outcome among anti-HCV positive women. Data collected was entered in MS excel and analyzed using Epi-info.

Result: Seroprevalence of Hepatitis-C among pregnant women was 0.89% in our study  Among the risk factors studied, previous surgery and blood transfusion were found to be the  important risk factors observed in16(25.80%) and 5(8.06%) of  anti- HCV positive pregnant women. About 42 % of women had no identifiable risk factors. Pre term delivery was found to be the most common complication (33.8%) among the anti- HCV positive women. This was followed by Fetal Distress (14.51%), Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (P.I.H.), Ante- Partum Haemorrhage (A.P.H.) and Intra Uterine Fetal Death (11.29% each). About one -third of neonates (33.87%) born to anti-HCV positive mothers were premature at birth and 37.09% of neonates had low birth weight.

Conclusion: Incidence of HCV infection is on the rise. HCV infection in pregnant women is associated with several adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Universal screening of all pregnant women should be done for HCV infection as at risk screening may miss significant proportion of pregnant women with HCV infection.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, Seroprevalence, Risk Factors, Pregnancy Outcome.

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Corresponding Author

Purnima Upreti

Assistant Professor, Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Govt Medical College, Haldwani, Nainital-263139

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mobile No: 08979977210