[Hepatitis C virus among pregnant women in Norway--occurrence of antibodies and pregnancy outcome].
BACKGROUND
Transmission of hepatitis C virus from mother to child is well documented. The prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus among pregnant women in Norway is however, not known. The aim of this study was to estimate the maternal prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus and to study the association between presence of antibodies and fetal death.


METHODS
From a study of 35,940 pregnant women, a random sample of 970 women and all women with fetal death after 16 weeks of gestation (n = 283), were tested for antibodies against hepatitis C virus.


RESULTS
7 out of 970 women in the random sample (0.7%; 0.2-1.3%, 95% confidence interval) had antibodies against hepatitis C virus. The same prevalence (0.7%, 2 out of 283) was found among women with fetal death.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus among Norwegian women was unexpectedly high. Further research is necessary to understand the causes and implications of this observation.
Eskild
A
A
Kvinnesenteret Ullevål sykehus, Oslo.
Samdal
H H
HH
Skaug
K
K
Jeansson
S
S
Stray-Pedersen
B
B
Jenum
P A
PA
D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000821:virology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies