Role of screening for hepatitis C virus in children with malignant disease and who undergo bone marrow transplantation

Abstract

A considerable number of children with primary malignant disease who received multiple blood transfusions became infected by HCV before HCV screening was used. Patients who underwent BMT were at high risk for HCV infection. Screening with a second-generation HCV antibody test has proven to be remarkably beneficial in preventing HCV infection in these children.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in children admitted to an urban hospital

“…Recent publications have suggested that children infected after vertical infection have a higher spontaneous clearance than adults. [8][9][10] These results are similar to the horizontal infection of young children after HCV positive blood transfusion. The spontaneous clearance rate in these patients was between 28 and 55%.…”

Hepatitis C virus in long-term bone marrow transplant survivors

“…5 Other papers analyze the results of serological tests in BMT and immunocompromised patients. 10,15,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Toma´s et al 23 found in a retrospective study of 61 BMT patients who had hepatic pathology, 29 patients with chronic hepatitis C of whom seven constantly tested anti-HCV negative but PCR positive. The Seattle group recommends hepatitis C testing, including viral RNA analysis.…”

Peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in Japanese pediatric and young adult patients: a survey of the Japan Society of Pediatric Hepatology

“…Of the 22 responding members, five reported on 37 cases of patients with chronic HCV infection who were treated with peginterferon and ribavirin (Table 1) and the remaining 16 members reported that they had no such patient. Twenty-two of the 37 patients had undergone a blood transfusion between 1983 and 1989, before the introduction of a screening test for anti-HCV antibodies in Japan [18]. Criteria for inclusion in the study were chronic HCV infection and determination of genotype, 30 years of age or younger, and normal values for hemoglobin, platelets, white blood cells, bilirubin, glucose, and serum creatinine.…”