Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C virus infections among pregnant women attending antenatal care in a secondary health facility in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Viral hepatitis is a major global public health challenge with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV), particularly leading to chronic diseases in several millions of people together they are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and deaths related to viral hepatitis. They can be spread by mother-to-child transmission at birth. Despite the significant health burden it places on pregnant women and their infants, the infection has been given little attention in Nigeria and some low- and middle-income countries, and routine screening during antennal care are not done for most pregnant women. This study assessed the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C viral infections among pregnant women. Methods: The study was cross-sectional involving a three-year retrospective review of laboratory results of the pregnant women who accessed antenatal care in the health facility. Data extraction was done manually from facility registers and analyses were done using IBM SPSS. Results: Laboratory results of HBV and HCV for 706 pregnant women were reviewed. The seroprevalence of HBV and HCV was 11.6% and 6.5% respectively while the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis was 18.1%. Conclusion: The high seroprevalence of viral hepatitis in this study further supports the importance of adopting global best practices to prevent the spread of the infection via mother-to-child transmission. We, therefore, re-emphasize the importance of screening for HBV and HCV as routine investigations in pregnant women.