Am Fam Physician. 2000;61(9):2809-2810
An estimated four million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, but most are asymptomatic and unaware of their infection. Current treatment options, such as interferon or combinations of interferon and ribavirin, are associated with a positive response in about one half of the patients but have substantial adverse side effects. Over time, up to 90 percent of patients develop chronic hepatitis and, over a period of 20 years, 20 percent develop cirrhosis. An unknown proportion of patients develops hepatic failure or hepatocellular carcinoma. One estimate is that hepatitis C is currently responsible for up to 10,000 deaths per year in the United States, and this could triple over the next 10 to 20 years. If these estimates are accurate, hepatitis C will surpass HIV as a cause of mortality.
In addition to blood-to-blood transmission and sexual contact, hepatitis C can be transmitted vertically from mother to child. This transmission appears to be inefficient, occurring in approximately 5 percent of live births to infected mothers. Factors associated with transmission have not been conclusively identified. Burns and Minkoff reviewed the potential benefit of maternal screening for hepatitis C as a preliminary step in preventing vertical transmission of the virus.
The advantages of screening include the identification of asymptomatic women who might otherwise not present for medical attention until late in the course of the disease, when serious hepatic damage has occurred. These women could be offered therapy and advised to avoid hepatotoxic materials, especially alcohol. Identification of infected mothers would also enable measures to be taken to prevent spread of the virus to household contacts and others, in addition to the unborn child.
Because of the many unknown factors in hepatitis C disease transmission and progression, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommend screening only children born to mothers who are known to have hepatitis C or who have risk factors for the infection. These risk factors include injection of illegal drugs, contaminated blood transfusion, long-term hemodialysis, multiple sexual partners or a sexual partner infected with hepatitis C, and a history of tattooing or body piercing. Routine testing of all pregnant women does not currently appear to be justified (see accompanying table).
| Persons who should be tested routinely for hepatitis C virus: | |
| Those who ever injected illegal drugs (even once) | |
| Those notified that they received blood from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C virus | |
| Recipients of transfusions or organ transplants, particularly if received before July 1992 | |
| Those who were ever on long-term hemodialysis | |
| Those with persistently elevated alanine aminotransferase levels or other evidence of liver disease | |
| Persons for whom routine testing is of uncertain need: | |
| Recipients of tissue transplants (e.g., corneal, musculoskeletal, skin, sperm, ova) | |
| Users of intranasal cocaine or other noninjected illegal drugs | |
| Those with a history of tattooing or body piercing | |
| Those with a history of sexually transmitted diseases or multiple sexual partners | |
| A long-term steady sex partner of a hepatitis C virus–positive person | |