Longitudinal Long-term Follow-up Study of Children with Vertically Acquired Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Abstract

Seventeen children with vertically acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were followed from birth for a mean of 104 months. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were increased significantly at 3 and 6 months of age but were stable thereafter. HCV polymerase chain reaction was positive at 3 months in 16 patients and at 12 months in one patient. Viral load remained stable during followup at a mean value of 5.4 ± 0.4 log 10 . Mild chronic hepatitis was the most common histopathological feature on liver biopsy, occurring in six of the seven children biopsied at a mean age of 4.0 ± 2.4 years. Genotype did not seem to be related to the type of liver involvement. The results of this study suggest that vertically acquired HCV infection has a benign course in children, despite the presence of viraemia and persistent alterations in ALT levels.

Surveying infections among pregnant women in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

“…[33] The anti-HCV prevalence in this study is also lower than the 1%-2.6% earlier reported in similar studies on pregnant women from the Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire,[3435] two countries in the same West African sub-region with Nigeria. This prevalence rate in this study is also lower than the range of 3.9%-13% reported in pregnant women from the non-West African countries of Tanzania, Egypt, Congo, Malawi and Cameroon.…”

Chronic viral hepatitis in children: any role for the pathologist?

“…Hepatitis C tends to be asymptomatic at presentation in children, but ALT is intermittently or persistently high in more than 1 in 2 cases 46 – 50. Spontaneous HCV-RNA clearance, with subsequent ALT normalisation, occurs in about 20% of vertically infected children (especially those with genotype 3) in the first 5 years of life 46 – 49.…”

Estimate of vertical transmission of Hepatitis C virus in Pakistan in 2007 and 2012 birth cohorts

“…While children with vertically acquired HCV appear to have mild disease progression, no interventions during pregnancy or childbirth are currently recommended for the prevention of HCV vertical transmission . Population‐level strategies to prevent vertical infections in Pakistan might include addressing HCV transmission routes affecting girls and women in reproductive age, HCV testing and linkage to postpregnancy treatment, and reducing unmet need for modern family planning methods which could help reduce unwanted pregnancies among HCV‐Ab+ women .…”