Outcome of Hepatitis-E Virus Infection among Pregnant Women Admitted in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate hepatitis E infection outcomes among pregnant women admitted in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: Study Design: Cross-sectional study Study Setting: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit I, Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore Study Duration: May 2019 to Feb 2020, After approval from Institutional Review Board. Data Collection Procedure: 30 Pregnant women with Hepatitis E confirmed on ELISA IgM, fulfilling the inclusion criteria age, 25 – 40 years of age in any trimester of pregnancy will be included in the study through Non-probability / convenience sampling. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS ver: 25.0 Qualitative variables like Socio-demographic details and Clinical variables like the feto-maternal outcome were presented as frequency and percentages. The outcome was cross-tabulated with the demographic and clinical profiles. Chi-square test was applied with p < 0.05 was taken as a statistically significant Results: 30 patients were recruited for the study. 96.7% were between the ages of 18- 40 years. 43.3% were primigravida. 76.7% were delivered through spontaneous vaginal delivery. 66.7% had coagulation defects, Fetal outcomes showed 63.3% were alive, 20.0% were still-birth and 16.7% had ENND. The maternal outcome was 96.7% recovered from Hepatitis E. 14.3% of pregnant women who were delivered with LSCS died which was statistically significant. (p=.045). Conclusions: The present findings suggest a high Hepatitis E infectivity in pregnancy results in considerable high maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. This high disease burden can be minimized by the provision of clean drinking water and access to better sanitary conditions for pregnant women.

Keywords

• HEV, Hepatitis E infection, HEV infection, Pregnancy.