Seroprevalence and burden of hepatitis E viral infection among pregnant women in central Nigeria attending antenatal clinic at a Federal Medical Centre in Central Nigeria

Abstract: Introduction: HEV infection may be life threatening in pregnant women and has been linked with 20–30% mortality, especially in the third trimester of pregnancy. HEV infection leads to elevated levels of preterm labour and other immunological parameters. It is vertically transmitted and could lead to poor feto-maternal outcomes. especially in fulminating viral hepatitis where both the mother and foetus could be lost. There is currently no known treatment or vaccine for HEV. There is therefore a need to study HEV seroprevalence and burden among vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and their newborns in Nigeria, where maternal mortality is highly significant.

Methods: A total of 200 samples were collected from pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Keffi, in central Nigeria, of which (156/200) samples were from HIV-negative pregnant women and (44/200) were from HIV-positive pregnant women, using a simple random sampling method.

Results: In total, 200 pregnant women [78.0% (156/200) HIV-negative pregnant women and 22.0% (44/200) HIV-positive pregnant women] were recruited for this study. The ages of the pregnant women ranged from 15-49 years, with a mean age of 26.4 years (± 6.23). The overall HEV IgG seropositivity in the study population was 31.5% (63/200); 95% CI (30-33).

Conclusion: This study highlighted an unexpectedly high seroprevalence of HEV and poor feto-maternal outcomes in pregnant women residing in a rural and urban setting of central Nigeria. The study showed that the inherently high HEV seropositivity and poor feto-maternal outcomes may not be attributed to HEV viral hepatitis only but may be a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Frontiers in medicine. - 9 (2022) , 888218, ISSN: 2296-858X

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2022
• Creator: Airiohuodion, Philomena Ehi ; Wartel, Anh ; Yako, Andrew B. ; Asaga Mac, Peter

Further information

• DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.888218
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2298391
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:21 AM CEST