Retrospective hepatitis C seroprevalence screening in the antenatal setting—should we be screening antenatal women?. Issue 5 (26th May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Orkin, Chloe; Jeffery-Smith, Anna; Foster, Graham R; Tong, C Y William
• Is Part Of: BMJ open. Volume 6:Issue 5(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-05-26
• Subjects: VIROLOGY; Medicine -- Research -- Periodicals; 610.72
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010661
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2044-6055

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: An unlinked anonymous seroprevalence study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in samples derived from antenatal clinic attendees at 2 East London Hospitals. An unexpectedly high HCV seroprevalence of 2.6% (1.2% viraemic) had been revealed during an unlinked study of the emergency department at 1 of these hospitals. Design: 1000 stored residual samples were tested for HCV antibody (anti-HCV) and reactive samples were further tested for HCV RNA. The study was reviewed by the East Midland NRES ethics committee project ID 181154, approval number 15/WS/0125. Results: The anti-HCV reactivity rate was 0.5% (5/1000) with 0.1% (1/1000) confirmed viraemic. Prevalence for the other blood-borne viruses was higher: 1% (10/1000) were hepatitis B surface antigen positive and 0.3% were HIV antigen/antibody positive (3/1000). There were no co-infections. Conclusions: More data to establish the prevalence of HCV in the antenatal population is needed. The addition of anti-HCV testing to the well-established antenatal screening programme provides a unique opportunity to impact on the health of pregnant women, their children, partners and future pregnancies in this new era of treatment for hepatitis C.