Absence of infection in breast-fed infants born to hepatitis C virus-infected mothers.

Lin, H H; Kao, J H; Hsu, H Y; Ni, Y H; Chang, M H; Huang, S C; Hwang, L H; Chen, P J et al. · J Pediatr · 1995

case_series · Level IV

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Abstract

The role of breast-feeding in perinatal transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was explored in 15 HCV-infected mothers and their infants. The 15 carrier mothers had anti-HCV titers ranging from 1:80 to 1:40,000 and also had HCV-ribonucleic acid with concentrations ranging from 10(4) to 2.5 x 10(8) copies/ml. Both anti-HCV antibody and HCV-ribonucleic acid were present in colostral samples in much lower levels, but none of the 11 breast-fed infants had evidence of HCV infection for up to 1 year of age. Thus breast-feeding seems safe for these infants.

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