Now some doctors say it’s time to close the gap. They want all pregnant women to be screened for this potentially liver-damaging infection to ensure proper diagnosis and follow-up care for moms and their babies.
An estimated 1 to 2.5% of pregnant womenthis link opens in a new tab (and even as many as 4% according to some research) have hepatitis C. The infection passes from mom to baby in 5% of births, on average, and more frequently in women who also have HIV.
The concern is that some women with hep C aren’t being identified, and some babies, whose hep C status cannot be confirmed until they’re 18 months of age, aren’t getting screened at all. “We’re missing cases of perinatal hepatitis C infection,” says Catherine Chappell, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.
Other clinicians say there’s no rationale for singling out pregnant women, at least not at the moment. “If we get to a point where we have a treatment we can offer these women [during pregnancy], then it’s a whole different ballgame,” says Geeta Swamy, MD, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University and a spokesperson for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM).
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