Doctors told about the number of children infected with hepatitis C at birth each year.

About 74,000 children worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) at birth every year. This was reported in The Lancet magazine.

According to a model created by scientists from the UK and Canada, the largest number of new vertical infections is observed in countries with high birth rates and significant spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among women of reproductive age.

Experts emphasize that vertical transmission — that is, from an infected mother to a child during pregnancy or childbirth — can account for up to 7.5% of the total number of new hepatitis C infections in the world.

"We estimated that 73,862 (95% confidence interval: 69,808-78,279) new cases of HCV infection through vertical transmission occur annually," the study says.

The largest outbreaks were detected in South Asia (21,245 cases per year), West Africa (16,482) and East Africa (8,182). Pakistan (16,350) and Nigeria (8,483) account for a third of all global cases of infection of children at birth.

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Scientists point out that recommendations for universal HCV screening of pregnant women have been introduced in developed countries. However, in most countries such programs either do not exist or are applied selectively. As a result, many women with hepatitis C are unaware of their status, which means they do not receive treatment before giving birth. At the same time, modern antiviral drugs are able to almost completely rid the body of the virus — the course of therapy takes less than three months and is effective in more than 90% of cases.

The probability of vertical transmission, according to the analysis, is 7.2% for women without HIV and 12.1% for women with HIV. Approximately two thirds of children infected at birth are cleared of the virus on their own by the age of five.

Previously, there were no global estimates of vertical HCV transmission. Separate data existed for only a few countries and were outdated for more than ten years. The study highlights that despite advances in the treatment of hepatitis C, the problem of its transmission from mother to child remains significant.

Earlier, on November 28, Vladimir Neronov, MD, infectious diseases specialist at JSC "Medicine" (Academician Roitberg Clinic), told Izvestia that both children and adults can get measles, and in the latter it can lead to serious complications. According to him, complications may include pneumonia, encephalitis, hepatitis and other serious pathologies, some of which may even lead to death.

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