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Mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus. Lombardy Study Group on Vertical HCV Transmission
A R Zanetti1, E Tanzi, S Paccagnini
1Institute of Virology, University of Milan, Italy.
To assess the risk of mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), we followed up 116 babies of anti-HCV positive mothers, of whom 22 were coinfected with HIV and 94 had HCV alone. None of the babies whose mothers had HCV alone acquired HCV, while 8 babies (36%; p < 0.001) of mothers co-infected with HIV acquired HCV (5 babies) or HCV and HIV (3). There was no association between any specific maternal HCV genotype and enhanced risk of neonatal infection. HCV-RNA levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in mothers with HIV coinfection than in those with HCV alone. These data indicate that maternal HIV status correlates with enhanced level of viraemia which favours neonatal infection.
To assess the risk of mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), we followed up 116 babies of anti-HCV positive mothers, of whom 22 were coinfected with HIV and 94 had HCV alone. None of the babies whose mothers had HCV alone acquired HCV, while 8 babies (36%; p < 0.001) of mothers co-infected with HIV acquired HCV (5 babies) or HCV and HIV (3). There was no association between any specific maternal HCV genotype and enhanced risk of neonatal infection. HCV-RNA levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in mothers with HIV coinfection than in those with HCV alone. These data indicate that maternal HIV status correlates with enhanced level of viraemia which favours neonatal infection.