Frequency of Hepatitis B & C and Related Risk Factors in Pregnant Women

Aim: to determine frequency of hepatitis b and c in booked antenatal cases of sh. zayed hospital to identify the related risk factors responsible for transmission of hepatitis b & c among pregnant women. study design: this was a cross sectional descriptive study. setting: study was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology shaikh zayed hospital lahore from 18th october2005 to 18thapril 2006. method: among 801 pregnant women attending outpatient department of gynaecology & obstetrics were included. 53 were found to be positive for hepatitis b & c. and informed consent was taken. relevant data obtained through specializedperforma. cases of hepatitis other than b&c were excluded. elisa was used to determine hepatitis b & c status. data analyzed by using spss 10. results: out of 801 women 36(4.49%) were found to be anti hcv positive; 15(1.87%) were positive for hbsag while 2(0.24%) had mixed infection of hepatitis b&c. mean age was 28.4(+-5.1). 38 females (71.7%) were multigravida and 15(28.2%) were primigravida. 25(47.2%) belonged to low socioeconomic status. risk factor analysis showed that 14(26.4%) patient's husband were seropositive. 45(84.9%) women had previous surgery i.e.,tooth extraction,dilatation & curettage,cholecystectomy and appendectomy etc. 42(79.3%) women had history of blood transfusion. conclusion: in our study frequency of anti hcv is more than hbsag. previous surgery,blood transfusion and history of parenteral injections were recognized risk factors. therefore the need to institute public health measure to reduce disease burden and transmission including routine screening of all pregnant mother of hbv & hcv infection.