Mother‐to‐Infant Transmission of GB Virus C/Hepatitis G Virus: The Role of High‐Titered Maternal Viremia and Mode of Delivery
Open Access
- 1 May 1998
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 177 (5) , 1202-1206
- https://doi.org/10.1086/515264
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 >107 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 × 104 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.Keywords
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