Hepatitis E virus sero-prevalence among pregnant women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Abstract

In Pakistan, the Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is prevalent. HEV exposure is deadly during pregnancy, with high infection rates in both the mother and the baby, even in asymptomatic situations. The researcher examined HEV-negative pregnant women with acute hepatitis or increased renal characteristic assessments at 12 medical sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to identify maternal and fetal disease risks from August to December 2018. Except for one during the entire pregnancy, twenty-five of the 135 females were HEV-free and in the perinatal period. HEV infection was found in 0.19% of newly pregnant women. Also, 11 cases of forcible induction of labor, 7 cases of normal labor, 5 cases of normal labor (full-term), 2 cases of death, and 1 case of intrauterine death were reported before going to the doctor a girl had an abortion. There were eight postpartum deaths: five from infections, four from miscarriages, and two from miscarriages. While 18 mothers who survived voluntarily or intentionally induced abortions and three women who continued to get pregnant but did not deliver died as a result of abortion. The current study found that HEV infection during pregnancy raised the death rate by 14.2%.