Frequency of hepatitis C in obstetric cases

To compare the frequency of antihepatitis C virus (HCV) after single blood transfusion, multiple blood transfusion and in non-transfused obstetric cases.

A comparative descriptive study.

The Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, during the period of one-year from January 2002 to December 2002.

Patients included in the study after single transfusion were 38, after multiple transfusion 39, and controls 120. History of patients regarding all the relevant information and clinical examination were recorded on a specially-designed and coded proforma. Anti-HCV was detected by Roche HCV EIA 2nd generation kit method in all cases and controls. Descriptive statistics and frequency of anti HCV in each group was calculated using SPSS version 10.

Frequency of anti-HCV among patients with single blood transfusion was 13.2% (5), with multiple transfusion was 15.4% (6) and 6.6% (8) in non-transfused subjects.

Anti-HCV frequency after one pint blood was almost same (13.2%) as after multiple transfusion (15.4%). This positively provided a firm argument for the necessity of a nationwide blood donor screening for anti-HCV by most sensitive immunoassay. Equally important was the need for clear cut indication for single blood transfusion.