Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Among Pregnant Women in Khartoum State

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) among pregnant women in Khartoum State using Enzyme- Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for detection of HEV IgG and IgM antibodies. Thestudy design was cross-sectional. The study was carried out during theperiod from April to August 2014. A total of ninety pregnant women attended to Khartoum Teaching Hospital were included in the study. Forty one (45.6%) were positive for anti-HEV IgG while 49 (54.4%) were negative for anti-HEV IgG, whereas 13 (14.5%) were positive for anti-HEV IgM while 77 (85.5%) were negative for anti-HEV IgM. According to age groups, there was significant relationship on seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG andanti-HEV IgM (P< 0.05). This study revealed that HEV was more prevalence in second and third trimester than first trimester. Further study is required to validate these results.