title: Mother-to-infant transmission of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus: the role of high-titered maternal viremia and mode of delivery.
abstract: To study mother-to-infant transmission of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV), blood samples of infants born to carrier mothers were collected beginning 3 months after birth and were tested for GBV-C/HGV RNA until 1 year of age. Of 2046 mothers, 2.1% were positive for GBV-C/HGV RNA, and 25 of their infants were followed for a median of 12 months. Thirteen infants (52%) were viremic, and infection became persistent in all. Maternal GBV-C/HGV RNA levels of this group were >10(7) copies/mL. Nucleotide sequence comparison in 5 viremic mother-infant pairs revealed a homology of 93%-98.2%, and none delivered by elective cesarean section. In comparison, of the 12 uninfected infants' mothers, 10 had lower GBV-C/HGV RNA levels (mean, 5 x 10(4) copies/mL), and the remaining 2 high-titered mothers had elective cesarean section. Thus, high-titered maternal viremia and mode of delivery are closely associated with the mother-to-infant transmission of GBV-C/HGV to infants, and the infection usually becomes persistent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000821:virology*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D017931:DNA Primers; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014766:Viremia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral