Cluster of hepatitis C in a family: a twenty-year follow-up

We described an impressive cluster of hepatitis C in a single family. Of nine members of the family, six - the mother and five daughters - were affected by chronic hepatitis, hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b, of which two were co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Sharing a non-disposable injection equipment for intramuscular medical care was the most likely route of contagion. Twenty years after the first observation, we performed a follow up of this family.

The clinical history was updated, and the members of the family underwent a clinical evaluation, extensive liver laboratory tests, and whole serology for hepatitis C and B. Protein chain reaction for HCV RNA was performed when indicated. The eight spouses of the offspring and their eight children underwent the same evaluation.

The main findings of this study are the favourable outcome of the two members of the family mono-infected by HCV, treated with peginterferon and ribavirin (sustained response and free of liver disease), in contrast with the ominous outcome of the two members co-infected with HCV and HBV, who evolved to decompensated cirrhosis, with hepatocellular carcinoma in one case, ultimately leading to death. A further feature is the absence of transmission of HCV to the spouses and to the third generation of children of this family, consistent with the assumption that sexual and vertical transmission is unlikely.

A thorough epidemiological investigation of the two first generations of this family, the study of their spouses and children, and the twenty years of follow up provided a strong presumption that the infection with HCV had occurred within this family through the promiscuous use of the same inadequately sterilized glass syringe for intramuscular therapies, as was a common practice during the fifties and sixties worldwide and still is in some part of the world.