title: HCV prevalence and co-infection with HIV among pregnant women in Saint Camille Medical Centre, Ouagadougou.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence and the rate of HCV/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection in pregnant women attending Saint Camille medical centre (SCMC) in Ouagadougou.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 607 pregnant women, 16-45 years old, with <32 weeks amenorrhoea were screened for HCV and HIV using rapid tests. The majority of the women included in the study were previously known as HIV infected, as the centre is a reference centre for the programme of prevention against mother-to-child HIV transmission in the country. HCV RNA was extracted and quantified using the cDNA polymerase chain reaction with the nested primers at the 5' untranslated region. Transaminases were measured from plasma samples using spectrophotometric method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of women, 62.27% were infected with HIV. The prevalence of HCV was 2.14% in the screened pregnant women: 1.75% in HIV-negative women and 2.38% in HIV-positive ones. This prevalence is not significantly different between HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant women (P = 0.81). HCV RNA was found in all women with anti-HCV. A significant transaminase increase was noted in women infected with HCV (P = 0.01 and P < 0.01 for glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, respectively). Risk factors significantly associated with HCV positivity in pregnant women included transfusion and genital excision. In addition, the infection was linked with the educational level of the women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The issue of this study revealed that effort should be made to promote safe medical practices and fight against women genital excision that are found to be the main risk factors associated with the HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Biomoléculaire, Pietro Annigoni, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Moctar T A
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Zeba
authors.forename: Simplice D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Karou
authors.forename: Tani
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sagna
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Djigma
authors.forename: Cyrille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bisseye
authors.forename: Djeneba
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ouermi
authors.forename: Virginio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pietra
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pignatelli
authors.forename: Charlemagne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gnoula
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sia
authors.forename: Remy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moret
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Nikiema
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simpore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002050:Burkina Faso / Q000453:epidemiology; D060085:Coinfection; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult