TEMPORAL PROFILE OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-ANTIBODY AND GENOME IN INFANTS BORN TO MOTHERS INFECTED WITH HEPATITIS-C VIRUS BUT WITHOUT HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS COINFECTION

To investigate mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus, serial follow-up of anti-HCV and hepatitis C virus RNA was undertaken in 11 infants born to hepatitis C virus-infected mothers who had been screened from 11688 pregnant women. None of the hepatitis C virus-infected mothers was infected by human immunodeficiency virus. Anti-HCV was checked by the second-generation enzyme immunoassay kit, and hepatitis C Virus RNA was examined by reverse transcriptase-nested polymerase chain reaction. Hepatitis C virus RNA was found in more than two serum samples in two of these 11 infants; those two infants were regarded as hepatitis C virus-infected. One of the two had hepatitis C virus RNA at the age of 1, 3, and 6 months, but not later. The course of hepatitis C virus RNA and anti-HCV in this baby may reflect fluctuating viral replication in chronic infectious disease or viral clearance in acute infection. The other infant had hepatitis C virus RNA detectable at the age of 3 months and at 15, 18 and 24 months. In the other nine non-hepatitis C virus-infected infants, maternally acquired anti-HCV gradually disappeared by the age of 6 months. The liver function profile fell, to the normal range in all the infants, including the two hepatitis C virus-infected infants. This may indicate the subclinical nature of hepatitis C virus infection in infancy. Seven fathers and four siblings of these 11 infants were checked for anti-HCV and liver function tests; none had evidence of hepatitis C virus infection. These results show that the rate of mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus from mothers without human immunodeficiency virus coinfection is about 18% and that hepatitis C virus infection in these patients seemed to run a subclinical course. (C) Journal of Hepatology.