Seroprevalence and risk factors of Hepatitis E virus infection among pregnant women at the Yaounde Central Hospital, Cameroon

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging infectious agent that causes acute viral hepatitis worldwide. More than 20 million cases of HEV infection occur annually all over the world. There is a paucity of information on HEV infection among pregnant women in Cameroon. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors for HEV infection among pregnant women at the Yaounde Central Hospital (YCH). From June to August 2016, a cross sectional study was done on 200 pregnant women (age between 16 and 41 years). Data on the demographic characteristics and risk factors were collected with a questionnaire, followed by 5 ml of venous blood. All samples were screened for anti-HEV IgM and IgG using the Prestige HEV immunochromatographic kit and the Prestige HEV Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay Kit respectively. The seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgM and IgG obtained in this study were 0 and 9% respectively. Subjects in their second trimester of pregnancy had the highest prevalence of HEV IgG (12.1%); while those in their first trimester were least infected (4.5%). However, this difference is not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The age group with the highest prevalence (50%) was 41 to 45 years; while the age group with the least prevalence (5.1%) was 16 to 20 years. This difference is also not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, a higher prevalence (10.1%) was obtained in subjects that consume pork (6.1%), bush meat (12.7%) and rear pigs (15%). In all of these cases, the difference is not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Even though no risk factor was noticed to be directly associated with the susceptibility of being infected with HEV, there is a need to carry out more studies in urban as well as the rural populations, and to make available the HEV vaccine for persons at risk.

Keywords: Seroprevalence, risk factors, viral Hepatitis E, pregnant women.