ArticleClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2023
Spontaneous Clearance of Vertically Acquired Hepatitis C Infection: Implications for Testing and Treatment.
Article in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of One-Time Universal Childhood Hepatitis C Screening in the United States.Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society · 2026Article
- Hepatitis C missed diagnostic opportunities: The role of reflex viral load testing in the era of direct acting antivirals, a descriptive South African study from 2017 to 2021.Southern African journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Hepatitis C virus in childhood and pregnancy.Infectious diseases & immunity · 2025Review
- Update on Pediatric Hepatitis C Infection.Current gastroenterology reports · 2025Review
- Testing Infants and Children With Perinatal Exposure to Hepatitis C Virus.American family physician · 2024Article
- Modelling the potential clinical and economic impact of universal antenatal hepatitis C (HCV) screening and providing treatment for pregnant women with HCV and their infants in Egypt: a cost-effectiveness study.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- CDC's New Hepatitis C Virus Testing Recommendations for Perinatally Exposed Infants and Children: A Step Towards Hepatitis C Elimination.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2024Article
- Attitudes and perspectives of healthcare workers on treating chronic hepatitis C infection in children and adolescents.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- CDC Recommendations for Hepatitis C Testing Among Perinatally Exposed Infants and Children - United States, 2023.MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports · 2023Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Strategies to Identify Children with Perinatally Acquired Hepatitis C Infection.The Journal of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Modelling the potential effectiveness of hepatitis C screening and treatment strategies during pregnancy in Egypt and Ukraine.Journal of hepatology · 2023Article
- Overall Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus, Transmission Net of Clearance, and Timing of Transmission.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCurrent guidelines recommend that infants born to women with hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia be screened for HCV antibody at age 18 months and, if positive, referred for RNA testing at 3 years to confirm chronic infection. This policy is based, in part, on analyses that suggest that 25%-40% of vertically acquired HCV infections clear spontaneously within 4-5 years.
methodsData on 179 infants with HCV RNA and/or anti-HCV evidence of vertically acquired infection in 3 prospective European cohorts were investigated. Ages at clearance of infection were estimated taking account of interval censoring and delayed entry. We also investigated clearance in initially HCV RNA-negative infants in whom RNA was not detectable until after 6 weeks.
resultsClearance rates were initially high then declined slowly. Apparently, many infections clear before they can be confirmed. An estimated 65.9% (95% credible interval [CrI], 50.1-81.6) of confirmed infections cleared by 5 years, at a median 12.4 (CrI, 7.1-18.9) months. If treatment were to begin at age 6 months, 18 months, or 3 years, at least 59.0% (CrI, 42.0-76.9), 39.7% (CrI, 17.9-65.9), and 20.9% (CrI, 4.6-44.8) of those treated would clear without treatment. In 7 (6.6%) confirmed infections, RNA was not detectable until after 6 weeks and not until after 6 months in 2 (1.9%). However, all such cases subsequently cleared.
conclusionsMost confirmed infection cleared by age 3 years. Treatment before age 3, if it was available, would avoid loss to follow-up but would result in substantial overtreatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.