INCIDENCE OF VIRAL HEPATITIS AMONG WOMEN ADMITTED TO LABOUR WARD AT MISRATA CENTRAL HOSPITAL

Abstract

It is imperative for pregnant women to know their hepatitis status to prevent transmission to their newborn during delivery. Serological screening for viral hepatitis should be offered to pregnant women, as babies born to a mother with hepatitis B have 90% chance of developing chronic hepatitis B if they are not properly treated at birth. So postnatal intervention
can be offered to women infected with Hepatitis B to decrease such risk of transmission. To evaluate the incidence of viral
hepatitis among women in their third trimester admitted to labour ward, and to determine the magnitude the problem in
our locality. A retrospective study was conducted targeting all women delivered in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Misurata Central Hospital; patient’s data was obtained from medical records of these women during the year
2016. All of them were screened for viral infections (Hepatitis B & C as well as HIV) during their antenatal care in the
third trimester. During delivery proper preventive techniques are implemented, including effective ‘decontaminate the
hands’, and use rigorous infection control procedures. For needle stick injuries or splash of body fluid with hepatitis B are
recorded and immune prophylaxis is given. Appropriate hygienic precautions should be taken for newborn. In addition to
routine vaccination; newborn to HBsAg-positive mothers should receive passive immunization with HBIG at birth. A total
of 7142 deliveries including 156 multiple births were recorded. Of them 52 had viral hepatitis B giving an incidence of
0.7%. Hepatitis B represented 91.2% of the cases while hepatitis C accounted for 9.8% of the cases. They were aged between 18 and 42 years. 90% of them were Libyan and 48% were resident outside Misurata. 79% were multiparous. Of the
total cases 32.7% were delivered by Cesarean section. The current study revealed a low incidence of Hepatitis B and C in
our locality