PMID- 34589552
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20220112
LR  - 20220427
IS  - 2314-6141 (Electronic)
IS  - 2314-6133 (Print)
VI  - 2021
DP  - 2021
TI  - Prevalence and Predominant Genotype of Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Associated 
      Risk Factors among Pregnant Women in Iran.
PG  - 9294276
LID - 10.1155/2021/9294276 [doi]
LID - 9294276
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Knowledge regarding the prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis C 
      virus (HCV) infection among pregnant women can give clue to health care providers 
      regarding the appropriate management of HCV infection. Therefore, this study was 
      conducted to determine the prevalence, genotypic pattern, and risk factors of HCV 
      infection among pregnant women in the northern shores of the Persian Gulf, south 
      of Iran. METHODS: From January 2018 to June 2019, serum samples were obtained 
      from 1425 pregnant women, ages ranging from 14 to 46 years (28.1 +/- 5.99). Serum 
      samples were tested for detection of anti-HCV antibodies using an enzyme-linked 
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (HCV Ab ELISA kit, Dia.Pro, Milan, Italy). Following 
      the extraction of nucleic acid, the molecular evaluation of HCV infection was 
      performed by seminested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay 
      (RT-PCR), targeting the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) and core of HCV genome and 
      sequencing. RESULTS: Of the 1425 pregnant women, 19 women (1.33%, 95% CI: 
      0.85%-2.07%) were positive for anti-HCV antibodies. The majority of 
      HCV-seropositive women were in the third trimester of pregnancy, educated, and 
      had a history of blood transfusion, abortion, surgery, or dentistry. Moreover, 
      Arab and Fars pregnant women and those aged >39 years had the highest rate of HCV 
      seroprevalence. Nevertheless, none of these variables were significantly 
      associated with HCV seropositivity. In contrast, HCV seropositivity was 
      associated with place of residency, so that residents of Khormuj city had 
      significantly higher HCV seroprevalence compared to the residents of other cities 
      (OR: 7.05; 95% CI: 1.75-28.39; P = 0.006). According to the molecular evaluation, 
      9 of the 19 HCV-seropositive pregnant women (47.37%) had HCV viremia with 
      genotype 3a. CONCLUSION: This study reports the HCV prevalence of 1.33% for 
      anti-HCV antibodies and 0.63% for HCV RNA among pregnant women in the south of 
      Iran. Considering the asymptomatic nature of chronic HCV infection and the fact 
      that vertical transmission is possible in women with detectable viremia, 
      therefore, screening of women before pregnancy is recommended to reduce the risk 
      of HCV infection and its complications during pregnancy.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2021 Fatemeh Farshadpour et al.
FAU - Farshadpour, Fatemeh
AU  - Farshadpour F
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8317-9573
AD  - Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical 
      Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
AD  - Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of 
      Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
FAU - Taherkhani, Reza
AU  - Taherkhani R
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6499-0531
AD  - Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical 
      Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
AD  - Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of 
      Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
FAU - Bakhtiari, Farkhondeh
AU  - Bakhtiari F
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8743-6218
AD  - Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical 
      Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210918
PL  - United States
TA  - Biomed Res Int
JT  - BioMed research international
JID - 101600173
RN  - 0 (Antibodies, Viral)
RN  - 0 (RNA, Viral)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Antibodies, Viral/immunology
MH  - Female
MH  - Genotype
MH  - Hepacivirus/*genetics/immunology
MH  - Hepatitis C/*epidemiology/genetics/immunology/*virology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Iran/epidemiology
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Pregnancy
MH  - *Pregnant Women
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - RNA, Viral/genetics
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - Viremia/complications/immunology
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC8476243
COIS- The authors declared that they do not have anything to disclose regarding 
      conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript.
EDAT- 2021/10/01 06:00
MHDA- 2022/01/13 06:00
PMCR- 2021/09/18
CRDT- 2021/09/30 07:17
PHST- 2021/05/16 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/08/02 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2021/08/24 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/09/30 07:17 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/10/01 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/01/13 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2021/09/18 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1155/2021/9294276 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Biomed Res Int. 2021 Sep 18;2021:9294276. doi: 10.1155/2021/9294276. eCollection 
      2021.