Up to 5,000 Egyptian children a year could be infected by hepatitis C through their mothers.
A new study suggests that between 3,000 and 5,000 Egyptian children
could be infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) annually through
mother-to-child transmission1.
This
vertical transmission, which is still not fully understood, is believed
to occur during pregnancy, child birth or during the postpartum period,
most probably from cracked nipples.
The scientists from the
Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) and the London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK focused on Egypt, which has
the highest incidence of HCV worldwide, with an estimated 14.7% of the
population carrying the virus and up to 100,000 new infections occurring
each year, according to WHO.
Read more...Labels: Egypt, mother-to-child transmission, perinatal transmission, vertical transmission