Year: 2015
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is an endemic disease with chronic sequelae that include cirrhosis and liver cancer.Children acquire the disease mainly via the maternal-infant route.This study investigated its prevalence in pregnant women and the natural history of its vertical transmission.Methods: This prospective study involved 618 randomly selected pregnant women in Al-Ain City (Abu Dhabi, UAE).Participants were screened in the first trimester by second-generation Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA-2).Positive samples were further tested by third-generation ELISA (ELISA-3), third-generation recombinant immunoblot assay for detection of antibodies (anti-HCV), and Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) to detect HCV-RNA.Infants of mothers with positive anti-HCV antibody or HCV-RNA were followed for several years.Results: Twenty-five women (4.0%) had positive ELISA-2; of which eleven (1.8%) had positive ELISA-3, nine (1.5%) had positive anti-HCV antibody, and three (0.5%) had positive HCV-RNA.All nine infants of mothers with positive anti-HCV antibody had positive anti-HCV antibody at 1, 6, and 12 months of age.All three infants of mothers with positive HCV-RNA had positive HCV-RNA and elevated Alanine Transaminase (ALT) for several years.All six infants of mothers with negative HCV-RNA had negative HCV-RNA and normal ALT at 1, 6, and 12 months of age. Conclusion:The prevalence of positive anti-HCV antibody in infants of mothers with positive anti-HCV antibody was 9/9 at 12 months.The prevalence of HCV infection (positive HCV-RNA) among mothers in our region is about 0.5%.The prevalence of positive HCV-RNA in infants of mothers with positive HCV-RNA was 3/3 and of mothers with negative HCV-RNA 0/6 (p=0.012).These results justify long-term monitoring of infants born to mothers with positive anti-HCV or HCV-RNA.
DOI: 10.36876/smjhrt.1004
Institution: United Arab Emirates University
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis C virus research
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2991053476