HCV Screening Rates Very Low Among Exposed Infants
The number of pregnant women infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is growing rapidly due to the opioid epidemic, yet most prenatally infected children are not being screened, despite the risk that approximately 6 percent will become infected, according to a study published May 2 in Pediatrics. Less than one-third of HCV-exposed infants receiving well-child care are being tested for HCV. “Without appropriate screening, children who are at risk for perinatal transmission may remain undiagnosed until they become symptomatic or have abnormal liver enzyme levels found incidentally,” write the authors led by Catherine Chappell, M.D., from University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. “Delays in diagnosis could lead to delays in appropriate referrals and curative treatment or irreversible liver disease, such as cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma.” According to recommendations from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, all infants born to HCV-infected women should be screened for HCV with an HCV antibody test at or after 18 months of age. (Before age 18 months, HCV RNA can be detected by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), but this is not the screening test of choice for perinatal HCV transmission and chronic pediatric HCV infection.) Researchers retrospectively identified a cohort of pregnant, HCV-infected women who […]
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