Screening of Women For HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in Antenatal Clinic

Saba Pario, Mehveen Iqbal, Adeena Habib Siddiqui, Sadia Suboohi, Anza Kanwal, Kashish Karara

Abstract

Objective

To estimate the frequency of HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C among women attending antenatal clinics in a low-income area.

Study design

Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Place & Duration of study

Antenatal clinic of United Medical and Dental College / Creek Hospital Karachi, from July 2023 to December 2023.

Methods

All women meeting the selection criteria were enrolled after taking informed consent. The blood samples (5 ml each) were obtained from all the participants and sent for the diagnosis of HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. For antibody/antigen detection, a positive result was defined by the presence of specific antibodies/antigen, as detected by electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoassay, with a threshold signal value of 0.9-1.0. For HIV antigen P-24 and antibody, Anti HIV1+Anti H1V2 were tested. Hepatitis B antigen and Hepatitis C antibody were also tested.

Results

This study enrolled 700 pregnant women with a mean age of 25.9±4.56 years. The mean age of their spouses was 30.6±5.87 years. The mean parity was 2.54±2.15 and a mean trimester duration of 4.21±2.36 months. Among the study participants one (0.1%) woman was diagnosed as having HIV, 14 (2.0%) Hepatitis C, and three (0.4%) with Hepatitis B.

Conclusion

A relatively low frequency of HIV and Hepatitis B were found in the pregnant women. However, Hepatitis C was notably high in this cohort of women.

Key words

HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, Antenatal care.