Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Sep 27;6(9):643-51.
doi: 10.4254/wjh.v6.i9.643.

Vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus: Current knowledge and perspectives

Chun-Yan Yeung  1 , Hung-Chang Lee  1 , Wai-Tao Chan  1 , Chun-Bin Jiang  1 , Szu-Wen Chang  1 , Chih-Kuang Chuang  1
Affiliations
Review

Vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus: Current knowledge and perspectives

Chun-Yan Yeung et al. World J Hepatol. .

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global health issue. Infection by the HCV can cause acute and chronic liver diseases and may lead to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma or liver failure. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 3% of the world population have been infected with HCV and the worldwide prevalence is between 1% and 8% in pregnant women and between 0.05% and 5% in children. Following the introduction of blood product screening, vertical transmission becomes the leading cause of childhood HCV infection. The prevalence of pediatric HCV infection varies from 0.05% to 0.36% in developed countries and between 1.8% and 5% in the developing world. All children born to women with anti-HCV antibodies should be checked for HCV infection. Though universal screening is controversial, selective antenatal HCV screening on high-risk populations is highly recommended and should be tested probably. Multiple risk factors were shown to increase the possibility of HCV vertical transmission, including coinfections with human immunodeficiency virus, intravenous drug use and elevated maternal HCV viral load, while breastfeeding and HCV genotypes have been studied to have little impact. At present, no clinical intervention has been clearly studied and proved to reduce the HCV vertical transmission risk. Cesarean section should not be recommended as a procedure to prevent vertical transmission, however, breastfeeding is generally not forbidden. The high prevalence of global HCV infection necessitates renewed efforts in primary prevention, including vaccine development, as well as new approaches to reduce the burden of chronic liver disease. Future researches should focus on the interruption of vertical transmission, developments of HCV vaccine and direct-acting antivirals in infancy and early childhood.

Keywords: Chronic liver disease; Hepatitis C virus; Perinatal infection; Vertical transmission.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mohd Hanafiah K, Groeger J, Flaxman AD, Wiersma ST. Global epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection: new estimates of age-specific antibody to HCV seroprevalence. Hepatology. 2013;57:1333–1342. - PubMed
    1. Pereira LM, Martelli CM, Moreira RC, Merchan-Hamman E, Stein AT, Cardoso MR, Figueiredo GM, Montarroyos UR, Braga C, Turchi MD, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of Hepatitis C virus infection in Brazil, 2005 through 2009: a cross-sectional study. BMC Infect Dis. 2013;13:60. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Raja NS, Janjua KA. Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection in Pakistan. J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2008;41:4–8. - PubMed
    1. Lo Re V, Kostman JR. Management of chronic hepatitis C. Postgrad Med J. 2005;81:376–382. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ray Kim W. Global epidemiology and burden of hepatitis C. Microbes Infect. 2002;4:1219–1225. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

-