Sero-prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis C virus infection among pregnant women in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia: cross sectional study

Abstract

Viral hepatitis during pregnancy is associated with high risk of maternal complications and has become a leading cause of foetal death. So the main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C viral infections among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic in Bahir Dar health institutions, Ethiopia. This was institutional based cross-sectional study that included 318 pregnant women who attended the antenatal clinic inBahir Dar health institutions from January 2013 to June 2013. Appropriate data was gathered from study participants. Sero-prevalence of hepatitis C virus was determined by detecting immunoglobulin of HCV using ELISA kit. Data was entered and analyzed with SPSS version 16 statistical software. The overall prevalence of hepatitis C virus among pregnant women was 0.6%. None of the expected risk factors had significant outcome. Prevalence of the Hepatitis C virus among pregnant women attending in Bahir Dar health institutions was low. Expected variables were not statistically significant.

Keywords

• hcv
• pregnant women
• ethiopia