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
. 2016 Apr 28;8(12):557-65.
doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i12.557.

Antiviral therapy for hepatitis C: Has anything changed for pregnant/lactating women?

Anna Maria Spera  1 , Tarek Kamal Eldin  1 , Grazia Tosone  1 , Raffaele Orlando  1
Affiliations
Review

Antiviral therapy for hepatitis C: Has anything changed for pregnant/lactating women?

Anna Maria Spera et al. World J Hepatol. .

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects about 3% of the world's population, with the highest prevalence in individuals under 40. The prevalence in pregnant women varies with geographical distribution (highest in developing countries). Prevalence also increases in sub-populations of women at high risk for blood-transmitted infections. HCV infection in pregnancy represents a non-negligible problem. However, most of the past antiviral regimens cannot be routinely offered to pregnant or breastfeeding women because of their side effects. We briefly reviewed the issue of treatment of HCV infection in pregnant/breastfeeding women focusing on the effects of the new direct-acting antivirals on fertility, pregnancy and lactation in animal studies and on the potential risk for humans based on the pharmacokinetic properties of each drug. Currently, all new therapy regimens are contraindicated in this setting because of lack of sufficient safety information and adequate measures of contraception are still routinely recommended for female patients of childbearing potential.

Keywords: Antiviral therapy; Breastfeeding woman; Direct-acting antivirals; Hepatitis C virus infection; Pregnancy category.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. Diabetes. Fact sheet N°312. [Updated 2015 Jan; accessed 2015 Nov 18] Available from: http//www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/index.html.
    1. European Association for Study of Liver. EASL Recommendations on Treatment of Hepatitis C 2015. J Hepatol. 2015;63:199–236. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Global Alert and Response (GAR). Hepatitis C virus. [Accessed 2015 Aug 5] Available from: http//www.who.int/csr/disease/hepatitis/whocdscsrlyo2003/en/index4.html.
    1. Kanninen TT, Dieterich D, Asciutti S. HCV vertical transmission in pregnancy: New horizons in the era of DAAs. Hepatology. 2015;62:1656–1658. - PubMed
    1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 86: Viral hepatitis in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2007;110:941–956. - PubMed
-