Key clinical point: Currently recommended HCV screening risk factors – dialysis, organ transplantation, or HIV infection – were not associated with positive HCV antibodies in this study.

Major finding: Risk factors significantly associated with positive hepatitis C virus antibodies included injection drug use (adjusted odds ratio, 22.9), a history of blood transfusion (aOR, 3.7), having an HCV-infected partner (aOR, 6.3), having had more than three sexual partners (aOR, 5.3), and smoking during pregnancy (aOR, 2.4).

Study details: The data come from an observational study of 106,842 pregnant adult women screened for hepatitis C between 2012 and 2015.

Disclosures: The study was supported in part by multiple grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Dr. Prasad disclosed funding from Ohio State University and from Gilead. Coauthors had links with pharmaceutical companies, associations, and organizations – most unrelated to this study.