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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 75(1), 2006, pp. 16-20
Copyright © 2006 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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*Hepatitis C
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TRANSMISSION OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN

MOSTAFA K. MOHAMED, LAURENCE S. MAGDER, MOHAMED ABDEL-HAMID, MAY EL-DALY, NABIEL N. MIKHAIL, FATMA ABDEL-AZIZ, AHMED MEDHAT, VALERIE THIERS, AND G. THOMAS STRICKLAND*
National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt; Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; South Egypt Cancer Institute and Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; Center for Field and Applied Research, Qalyub, Egypt; Centre National de la Recherche Hépatites Virales B et C, Laboratoire Mixte Pasteur-Necker, Faculté de Necker, Paris, France

Egyptian children with infected parents are at high risk of infection with hepatitis C (HCV). Analysis of data collected during surveys of rural communities show children whose parents had antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) were at higher risk for having anti-HCV than children whose parents did not. The association was greater with mothers than fathers and when the parent had HCV RNA. For instance, 87 (14%) of 612 children had anti-HCV whose mothers had HCV RNA compared with 28 (7%) of 401 whose mothers only had anti-HCV and 79 (2.6%) of 3,086 whose mothers were seronegative. These associations persisted after controlling for age, parenteral exposures, and serologic status of the other parent. Sequencing isolates from 13 families with parent(s) and children having HCV RNA showed 10 of 18 had genetically similar viruses. These findings suggest Egyptian children are at high risk of being infected with HCV by their parents and identification of the transmission routes would allow for preventive measures.

Received January 31, 2006. Accepted for publication March 22, 2006.

Acknowledgments: We thank the field teams from the Center for Field and Applied Research and the Department of Tropical Medicine at Assuit University who collected the data and blood samples; the technologists in the Viral Hepatitis Reference Laboratory who performed the laboratory tests; the members of the Data Management Team at the National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute who managed the data; and Professor Alaa Ismail (Dean of the National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute) and Mar Jan Ostrowski and his administrative staff who supported these efforts.

Financial support: This research was supported by United States Agency for International Development grant 263-G-00-96-00043-00, Wellcome Trust-Burroughs Wellcome Fund grants 059113/Z/99/A (Egypt) and 059113/Z/99/Z (USA), and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development International Collaborations in Infectious Disease Research grant U01-AI058372.

* Address correspondence to G. Thomas Strickland, International Health Division, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201. E-mail: tstrick{at}epi.umaryland.edu

Authors’ addresses: Mostafa K. Mohamed, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, Telephone: 20-2-483-7888, Fax: 20-2-486-3292, E-mail: ecgc{at}internetegypt.com. Laurence S. Magder and G. Thomas Strickland, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, Telephone: 410-706-3253 and 410-706-7550, Fax: 410-706-3808 and 410-706-8013, E-mails: lmagder{at}epi.umaryland.edu and tstrick{at}epi.umaryland.edu. Mohamed Abdel-Hamid and May El-Daly, National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt, Telephone: 20-2-368-6275, Fax: 20-2-368-2774, E-mail: hcplab{at}link.com.eg. Nabiel N. Mikhail, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, Telephone: 20-2-368-6275, Fax: 20-2-368-2774, E-mail: nabiel{at}hcp-egypt.com. Fatma Abdel-Aziz, Center for Field and Applied Research, Qalyub, Egypt, Telephone: 20-2-540-5129, Fax: 20-2-541-9403, E-mail: hcpcfar{at}umbegypt.com. Ahmed Medhat, Department of Tropical Medicine and Hepatology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, Telephone: 20-2-368-6275, Fax: 20-2-368-2774, E-mail: a_medhat_nasr{at}yahoo.com. Valerie Thiers, Centre National de la Recherche Hépatites Virales B et C, Laboratoire Mixte Pasteur-Necker, Faculté de Necker, Paris, France, Telephone: 33-1-40-61-56-44, Fax: 33-1-40-61-55-81, E-mail: vthiers{at}pasteur.fr.

Reprint requests: G. Thomas Strickland, International Health Division, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 660 W. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, E-mail: tstrick{at}epi.umaryland.edu.






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Copyright © 2006 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.