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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2001

M. A. BALOGUN ,
M. E. RAMSAY ,
J. V. PARRY ,
L. DONOVAN ,
N. J. ANDREWS ,
J. A. NEWHAM ,
S. CLIFFE ,
K. A. HARRIS  and
C.-G. TEO
M. A. BALOGUN
Affiliation:
Immunisation Division, PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
M. E. RAMSAY
Affiliation:
Immunisation Division, PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
J. V. PARRY
Affiliation:
Hepatitis and Retrovirus Laboratory, PHLS Central Public Health Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
L. DONOVAN
Affiliation:
Hepatitis and Retrovirus Laboratory, PHLS Central Public Health Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
N. J. ANDREWS
Affiliation:
PHLS Statistics Unit, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
J. A. NEWHAM
Affiliation:
Hepatitis and Retrovirus Laboratory, PHLS Central Public Health Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
S. CLIFFE
Affiliation:
HIV & STD Division, PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
K. A. HARRIS
Affiliation:
Hepatitis and Retrovirus Laboratory, PHLS Central Public Health Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
C.-G. TEO
Affiliation:
Hepatitis and Retrovirus Laboratory, PHLS Central Public Health Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
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Abstract

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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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 125 , Issue 3 , December 2000 , pp. 705 - 712
Copyright
2000 Cambridge University Press