title: Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence in pregnant women delivering live-born infants in North Thames, England in 2012.
abstract: To estimate HCV seroprevalence in subpopulations of women delivering live-born infants in the North Thames region in England in 2012, an unlinked anonymous (UA) cross-sectional survey of neonatal dried blood spot samples was conducted. Data were available from 31467 samples from live-born infants received by the North Thames screening laboratory. Thirty neonatal samples had HCV antibodies, corresponding to a maternal seroprevalence of 0·095% (95% confidence interval 0·067-0·136). Estimated HCV seroprevalences in women born in Eastern Europe, Southern Asia and the UK were 0·366%, 0·162% and 0·019%, respectively. For women born in Eastern Europe seroprevalence was highest in those aged around 27 years, while in women born in the UK and Asia-Pacific region, seroprevalence increased significantly with age. HCV seroprevalence in UK-born women whose infant's father was also UK-born was 0·016%. One of the 30 HCV-seropositive women was HIV-1 seropositive. Estimated HCV seroprevalence for women delivering live-born infants in North Thames in 2012 (0·095%) was significantly lower than that reported in an earlier UA survey in 1997-1998 (0·191%). Data indicate that the cohort of UK-born HCV-seropositive women is ageing and that, in this area of England, most perinatally HCV-exposed infants were born to women themselves born in Southern Asia or Eastern Europe.
authors.affiliation: Population,Policy and Practice Programme,UCL Institute of Child Health,London,UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cortina-Borja
authors.affiliation: Population,Policy and Practice Programme,UCL Institute of Child Health,London,UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Population,Policy and Practice Programme,UCL Institute of Child Health,London,UK.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Peckham
authors.affiliation: Population,Policy and Practice Programme,UCL Institute of Child Health,London,UK.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Population,Policy and Practice Programme,UCL Institute of Child Health,London,UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thorne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005061:Europe, Eastern / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000276:immunology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D050498:Live Birth / Q000208:ethnology*; D008310:Malocclusion; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies
keywords: Hepatitis C; migration; pregnancy; seroprevalence; unlinked anonymous survey