Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B Virus Infection: Epidemiology and Risk Factors in a Large Cohort of Pregnant Women in Lorestan, West of Iran

Background: there are little data on the prevalence of serological markers of hepatitis b and hepatitis c viruses in pregnant women in iran. objectives: this study was designed to determine the prevalence of hepatitis b virus (hbv) and hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection among pregnant women in lorestan, west of iran. patients and methods: serum samples of 827 pregnant women who lived in rural (36.8%) and urban areas (63.2%) of lorestan were collected during 2007-2008. data were ob- tained through questionnaires. samples were first screened for anti-hcv and anti-hbc by elisa. those who were positive for anti-hbc were tested for hbsag. results: anti-hbc was found in 28 of 827 pregnant women (overall prevalence, 3.4%; 14 of 523 in urban areas, 2.7%; 14 of 304 in rural areas, 4.6%). of the 28 positive samples, 6 (0.7%) were positive for hbs-ag. only 2 samples (0.2%) were anti-hcv-positive. conclusions: these results underscore the need for prenatal screening for hbv infec- tion in pregnant women and treatment of newborns from hbsag-positive mothers. more studies are needed to identify risk factors of hcv infection and highlight the importance of hcv screening and treatment programs.