History of miscarriage as a risk factor for hepatitis C virus infection in pregnant Iraqi women.

Sera from 3491 pregnant women were screened for the presence of HCV antibodies (anti-HCV). HCV genotyping was also performed on the sera of 94 women. The overall anti-HCV seroprevalence was 3.21%. Anti-HCV seroprevalence was significantly positively correlated with the number of miscarriages. Miscarriage was a significant risk factor for the acquisition of HCV infection from the first miscarriage up to the fifth, the risk increasing with increasing number of miscarriages. A higher proportion of women with a history of miscarriage harboured HCV-1b compared to those with no miscarriage.