Pregnant women should be routinely tested for hepatitis C during their clinic visits, according to a study carried out in Dublin's Rotunda, Mater and Temple Street hospitals.

Currently, only women with risk factors, such as a history of injecting drugs, are tested.

However, over the final six months of last year doctors in the Rotunda asked all women booking their antenatal visits to be tested for hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C can seriously damage the liver over many years causing cirrhosis, cancer or even liver failure.

Mothers can pass on the virus to their unborn child although the risk is low -- about five-10pc of babies become infected.

The doctors said the vast majority of the 4,118 mothers attending the clinics agreed to the tests.

The tests showed that 34 of the women were positive for the virus and six in 10 of these were Irish. Three quarters reported one or more risk factor which could have exposed them to the virus -- mostly sharing needles while injecting drugs.

But the rest had no risk factors, which meant the virus would not otherwise have been picked up.

The findings of the study carried out by doctors in the three hospitals were recently presented at the Royal College Of Physicians spring meeting.

They pointed out the selective screening for hepatitis C that currently exists is not identifying all cases.

"This provides persuasive evidence for the inclusion of hepatitis C virus testing during routine ante-natal screening," they added.

Most people do not experience any symptoms when they first become infected with hepatitis C.

They may have vague flu-like symptoms including fatigue, loss of appetite, joint pain and nausea some weeks after being infected.

In around 20pc of people, the virus is cleared from the body by the immune system within six months.

For others, the virus remains active but may not cause any symptoms throughout their life or for many years.

There is currently no vaccine to protect against the hepatitis C virus.

However, there are increasingly effective treatments available that can clear the virus in approximately half those treated.

The treatment is usually with a combination of two drugs, Interferon and Ribavirin.

Even if the treatment does not clear the virus, it may still slow down the progression of inflammation and liver damage.

http://www.hcvadvocate.org 

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