Sero-prevalence of HBV and HCV Infections Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Clinic at Dessie Referral Hospital, Ethiopia

Background: Infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) during pregnancy have high rate of vertical transmission and adverse effect on both the mother and child. Infection at the prenatal age and infancy usually leads to chronic carrier of the viruses and understanding the epidemiology of these viruses could be valuable to take appropriate preventive measures. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of HBV and HCV infections among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic at Dessie referral hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2014 at Dessie referral hospital antenatal care clinic. Five milliliter of venous blood was collected from each study subject and serum was tested for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibody using rapid test kits. Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the association between risk factors and hepatitis virus infections. P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: A total of 385 pregnant women were enrolled in this study and their mean age was 28.16 ± 5.37 years. The overall prevalence of HBV and HCV infections were 4.9% and 0.8% respectively. In multivariate analysis, the prevalence of HBV infections were significantly higher among patients who had history of multiple sexual practices (AOR 13.5; 95% CI 2.3-78, P = 0.004), nose piercing (AOR18.1; 95%CI 2.9-114, P= 0.002) and history of abortion (AOR 9.1; 95% CI 1.9-44, P = 0.005) and no formal education (AOR 31.6; 95% CI 4.5-225, P = 0.001). All HCV positive pregnant women were also co-infected with HIV and had history of ear piercing, history of abortion, and history of home delivery by traditional birth attendants. Conclusions: This study showed an intermediate and low prevalence of HBV and HCV infection among pregnant women respectively. Multiple sexual practices, nose piercing and history of abortion were found to be significant predictors of prevalence of HBV. Increasing awareness of transmission of HBV and HCV and regular screening of pregnant women for hepatitis viruses is recommended.