title: Transmission of hepatitis C virus between parents and children.
abstract: Egyptian children with infected parents are at high risk of infection with hepatitis C (HCV). Analysis of data collected during surveys of rural communities show children whose parents had antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) were at higher risk for having anti-HCV than children whose parents did not. The association was greater with mothers than fathers and when the parent had HCV RNA. For instance, 87 (14%) of 612 children had anti-HCV whose mothers had HCV RNA compared with 28 (7%) of 401 whose mothers only had anti-HCV and 79 (2.6%) of 3,086 whose mothers were seronegative. These associations persisted after controlling for age, parenteral exposures, and serologic status of the other parent. Sequencing isolates from 13 families with parent(s) and children having HCV RNA showed 10 of 18 had genetically similar viruses. These findings suggest Egyptian children are at high risk of being infected with HCV by their parents and identification of the transmission routes would allow for preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt. ecgc@internetegypt.com
authors.forename: Mostafa K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Laurence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Magder
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdel-Hamid
authors.forename: May
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Daly
authors.forename: Nabiel N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Mikhail
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abdel-Aziz
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Medhat
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thiers
authors.forename: G Thomas
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Strickland
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral