{"id":13616,"date":"2026-01-29T15:30:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/?p=13616"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:30:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:30:54","slug":"epidemiology-of-hepatitis-b-and-c-viruses-among-pregnant-women-at-queen-elizabeth-central-hospital-qech-blantyre-malawi-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/?p=13616","title":{"rendered":"Epidemiology of hepatitis B and C viruses among pregnant women at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre Malawi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Charles Bijjah Nkhata1,2<\/sup>, Alexander J. Stockdale2,4<\/sup>, Memory N. Mvula1,2<\/sup>, Milton M. Kalongonda1<\/sup>,
Martha Masamba1,3<\/sup>, Isaac Thom Shawa1,5<\/sup> *<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Blantyre3, Malawi<\/li>
  2. Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Programme, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre Malawi<\/li>
  3. Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, P.O. Box 95, Blantyre Malawi<\/li>
  4. Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom<\/li>
  5. University of Derby, Department of Biomedical and Forensic Sciences, Kedleston Road, DE22 1GB, United Kingdom
    *Corresponding Author:<\/strong> Isaac Thom Shawa; E-mail: i.shawa@derby.ac.uk<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Abstract
    Background<\/strong>
    Viral Hepatitis is a serious public health concern globally with an estimated 1.3 million deaths annually due to hepatitis B and C viruses. Prevention of mother to child transmission is a critical step toward elimination of hepatitis B and C. The main aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HBV and HCV among pregnant women at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
    Method<\/strong>
    A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among consecutive pregnant women attending routine antenatal care, and\/or admitted at QECH in last quarter of 2021. Of the 114 pregnant women, 84 women consented to participate. Serum was tested for HBsAg and Anti-HCV markers using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and compared to Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).
    Results<\/strong>
    Of the 84 consenting pregnant women, the median age was 25.0 years (IQR: 21.0, 33.0). Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected in 6.0% (n=5\/84, 95% CI: 0.03\u20136.4) of participants using ELISA and in 1.2% (0.2-6.4; n=1\/84), using RDTs, while none tested positive for anti-HCV antibodies. There were no significant associations between HBV infection and any of the socio demographic characteristics or assessed risk factors.
    Conclusion<\/strong>
    The prevalence of HBV (6%) and HCV (0%) in this population was lower than reported in previous studies of the general Malawian population, where HBV seroprevalence was estimated at 8.1% and HCV below 1%. We highlight potential underdiagnosis using RDTs for HBV, an ongoing significant rate of HBV infection, and a very low prevalence of HCV. Accessible screening and treatment for all positive pregnant women remains essential to eliminate vertical transmission.
    Key words:<\/strong> Viral hepatitis, Pentavalent, Triple-test, Pregnant women, Hepatitis B vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    DOWNLOAD PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Charles Bijjah Nkhata1,2, Alexander J. Stockdale2,4, Memory N. Mvula1,2, Milton M. Kalongonda1,Martha Masamba1,3, Isaac Thom Shawa1,5 * Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Blantyre3, Malawi Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Programme, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre Malawi Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, P.O. Box 95, Blantyre Malawi Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[138],"tags":[66],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13617,"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13616\/revisions\/13617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mmj.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}