Because hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is typically asymptomatic, its presence can easily be overlooked without appropriate screening efforts. For those screening efforts to be effective, they must keep pace with the changing demographic face of this increasingly prevalent but treatable disease.
Perhaps the most dramatic shift in HCV demographics in recent years has been the increase of infections among those born after 1965, a trend primarily driven by the opioid epidemic. In addition, data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System show that cases of diagnosed HCV doubled among women of childbearing age from 2006 to 2014, with new infections in younger women surpassing those in older age groups.
With such trends in mind, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) broadened their recommendations regarding HCV in 2020 to include one-time testing in all adults aged ≥ 18 years and screening of all pregnant women during each pregnancy, except where the prevalence of infection is < 0.1%, a threshold that no state has yet achieved.
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) subsequently followed suit in their own recommendations.
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)/Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have long advocated for extensive expansion in their
Hepatitis C
Chronic Hepatitis C Pathology
Cutaneous Manifestations of Hepatitis C
COMMENTARY
HCV Screening in Pregnancy: Reducing the Risk for Casualties in the Quest for Elimination
Nancy S. Reau, MD; Luis D. Pacheco, MD
DisclosuresNovember 22, 2021
Because hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is typically asymptomatic, its presence can easily be overlooked without appropriate screening efforts. For those screening efforts to be effective, they must keep pace with the changing demographic face of this increasingly prevalent but treatable disease.
Perhaps the most dramatic shift in HCV demographics in recent years has been the increase of infections among those born after 1965, a trend primarily driven by the opioid epidemic. In addition, data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System show that cases of diagnosed HCV doubled among women of childbearing age from 2006 to 2014, with new infections in younger women surpassing those in older age groups.
With such trends in mind, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) broadened their recommendations regarding HCV in 2020 to include one-time testing in all adults aged ≥ 18 years and screening of all pregnant women during each pregnancy, except where the prevalence of infection is < 0.1%, a threshold that no state has yet achieved.
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) subsequently followed suit in their own recommendations.
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)/Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have long advocated for extensive expansion in their
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Cite this: HCV Screening in Pregnancy: Reducing the Risk for Casualties in the Quest for Elimination - Medscape - Nov 22, 2021.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Authors
Nancy S. Reau, MD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Rush University; Richard B. Capps Chair of Hepatology; Section Chief , Hepatology; Associate Director of Organ Transplantation, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago Illinois
Disclosure: Nancy S. Reau, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: AbbVie; Gilead; Arbutus; Intercept; Salix
Received research grant from: AbbVie; Gilead
Received income in an amount equal to or greater than $250 from: AASLD
Luis D. Pacheco, MD
Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Anesthesiology; Director, Critical Care Obstetrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
Disclosure: Luis D. Pacheco, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.