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Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Vertical Transmission in 12-Month-Old Infants Born to HCV-Infected Women and Assessment of

Ravi Jhaveri1, Mohamed Hashem2, Samer S El-Kamary2

  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Open Forum Infectious Diseases
|July 17, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) vertical transmission (VT) in infants occurred at a 14.3% rate in Egypt. Maternal risk factors did not predict transmission, highlighting the need for better identification strategies and earlier infant testing.

Area of Science:

  • Hepatology
  • Virology
  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant cause of pediatric liver disease, primarily transmitted from mother to child (vertical transmission).
  • Current infant screening guidelines for HCV are based on older testing methods, necessitating updated data with real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction).
  • Previous studies reported HCV vertical transmission (VT) rates between 4%-15%, often linked to high maternal viral load.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate HCV RNA in infants born to viremic mothers in Egypt.
  • To assess maternal risk factors, including viral load, delivery mode, and IL28B genotype, associated with HCV vertical transmission (VT).
  • To determine the 12-month HCV VT rate in a prospective cohort in Cairo, Egypt.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective screening of pregnant women for HCV from December 2012 to March 2014.
  • Testing of infants at 12 months of age for HCV RNA using real-time PCR if the mother was viremic.
  • Analysis of maternal HCV RNA levels, mode of delivery, and IL28B genotype as potential risk factors for VT.

Main Results:

  • A total of 54 out of 2514 pregnant women (2.1%) were viremic for HCV.
  • Of 51 infants tested at 12 months, 7 were viremic, resulting in an HCV vertical transmission (VT) rate of 14.3% (7 of 49).
  • No significant association was found between maternal risk factors (viral load, delivery mode, IL28B genotype) and HCV transmission to infants.

Conclusions:

  • The study identified a 12-month HCV vertical transmission (VT) rate of 14.3% in Egypt, a region with high HCV endemicity.
  • Maternal risk factors did not reliably predict HCV transmission, indicating a need for improved predictive methods.
  • Further research should focus on identifying pregnant women at higher risk for VT and implementing earlier infant testing to detect potential chronicity.

Keywords:
Egypthepatitis C virusinfantsvertical transmissionviral load

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