TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in urban children
AU - El-Kamary, Samer S.
AU - Serwint, Janet R.
AU - Joffe, Alain
AU - Santosham, Mathuram
AU - Duggan, Anne K.
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr El-Kamary was supported by a National Research Service Award training grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions; The Thomas Wilson Sanitarium for Children in Baltimore City; and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine General Clinical Research Center, NIH/National Center for Research Resources, grant M01-RR00052.
PY - 2003/7/1
Y1 - 2003/7/1
N2 - Objectives: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in children with an unknown or negative human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status attending an urban hospital pediatric primary care clinic, and to identify HCV risk factors in their mothers. Study design: This was a cross-sectional study of 1034 children tested for HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) after excluding children known to be HIV-positive. We assessed maternal HCV risk factors through structured interviews with a sample of mothers (n = 573) and through review of available medical records (n = 347) for a subsample of mother-child pairs. Means, proportions, and 95% confidence intervals were used to estimate the prevalence of anti-HCV and maternal risk factors. Results: One child (0.1%; 95% CI, 0.002, 0.5) was anti-HCV positive. History of blood transfusion was reported by 7% of mothers and intravenous drug use (IVDU) by 1.8%. A subsample of mothers significantly underreported IVDU when compared with medical record review (1.5% vs 7.8%, P < .001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that universal screening of children for HCV in high-risk urban communities is not warranted. However, self-report may not be reliable for identifying mothers with a history of IVDU, for whom HCV testing is recommended.
AB - Objectives: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in children with an unknown or negative human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status attending an urban hospital pediatric primary care clinic, and to identify HCV risk factors in their mothers. Study design: This was a cross-sectional study of 1034 children tested for HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) after excluding children known to be HIV-positive. We assessed maternal HCV risk factors through structured interviews with a sample of mothers (n = 573) and through review of available medical records (n = 347) for a subsample of mother-child pairs. Means, proportions, and 95% confidence intervals were used to estimate the prevalence of anti-HCV and maternal risk factors. Results: One child (0.1%; 95% CI, 0.002, 0.5) was anti-HCV positive. History of blood transfusion was reported by 7% of mothers and intravenous drug use (IVDU) by 1.8%. A subsample of mothers significantly underreported IVDU when compared with medical record review (1.5% vs 7.8%, P < .001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that universal screening of children for HCV in high-risk urban communities is not warranted. However, self-report may not be reliable for identifying mothers with a history of IVDU, for whom HCV testing is recommended.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0022-3476(03)00278-6
DO - 10.1016/S0022-3476(03)00278-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 12915824
AN - SCOPUS:0041743166
SN - 0022-3476
VL - 143
SP - 54
EP - 59
JO - Journal of Pediatrics
JF - Journal of Pediatrics
IS - 1
ER -