The prevalence and genetic diversity of hepatitis C infection in antenatal clinic attenders in two regions of England

23Citations
Citations of this article
40Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

The prevalence and genetic diversity of hepatitis C infection in women attending antenatal clinics in two regions of England was investigated to inform future surveillance and control measures. Women booking into antenatal care are routinely offered a test for immunity to rubella. Serum residues from these tests were unlinked, anonymized and archived as part of the Unlinked Anonymous Prevalence Monitoring Programme (UAPMP). The serum specimens were tested for anti-HCV using a cost-effective pooling strategy. After taking into account differential sampling from the UAPMP serum archive, the adjusted overall prevalence of anti-HCV was 0.43% (95% CI: 0.32-0.53) in London and 0.21% (95% CI: 0.14-0.28) in the Northern and Yorkshire region. Restriction fragment length polymorphism of amplified HCV RNA identified type 3a as the most common HCV genotype in these antenatal women. The prevalence of anti-HCV in antenatal women in the UK is low and consistent with that expected from injecting drug use.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Balogun, M. A., Ramsay, M. E., Parry, J. V., Donovan, L., Andrews, N. J., Newham, J. A., … Teo, C. G. (2000). The prevalence and genetic diversity of hepatitis C infection in antenatal clinic attenders in two regions of England. Epidemiology and Infection, 125(3), 705–712. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268800004696

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free