History of miscarriage as a risk factor for hepatitis C virus infection in pregnant Iraqi women.
Sera from 3491 pregnant women were screened for the presence of HCV antibodies (anti-HCV). HCV genotyping was also performed on the sera of 94 women. The overall anti-HCV seroprevalence was 3.21%. Anti-HCV seroprevalence was significantly positively correlated with the number of miscarriages. Miscarriage was a significant risk factor for the acquisition of HCV infection from the first miscarriage up to the fifth, the risk increasing with increasing number of miscarriages. A higher proportion of women with a history of miscarriage harboured HCV-1b compared to those with no miscarriage.
Al-Kubaisy
W A
WA
Department of Community Medicine, Saddam College of Medicine, Baghdad, Iraq.
Niazi
A D
AD
Kubba
K
K
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000150:complications*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000635:transmission; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008403:Mass Screening; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D004279:DNA, Viral; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral