Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C (HCV) is common in HIV-infected children, who should be screened for these infections regularly. It is based on reports of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases 15 September 2007 edition.
"In the U.S. we were lucky as children and adolescents with HIV live healthier and longer," Dr. Sima Shelly Toussi of Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, New York, USA mengatakaan told Reuters Health. "But the research and expertise related to the management of chronic hepatitis in children is still slow."
Dr. Toussi and colleagues investigated the prevalence and characteristics of HBV and HCV infection in the group of children with HIV in urban areas.
Among 228 children and adolescents with HIV infection, seven (3.1%) had chronic HCV infection and six 6 (2.6%) had chronic HBV infection, the authors report.
The prevalence of chronic HCV is at least ten times higher than children in the U.S. population, the authors note, and the prevalence of chronic HBV in this group was more than six times that of the general pediatric population.
Coinfected patients on average, five years older than patients infected with HIV alone, and there is no transmission of HCV or HBV from mother to a new baby in the last decade.
"There are fewer cases of chronic HCV infection were recorded among a cohort of younger children, and exposed to HIV at birth shows the impact of screening blood donors as a whole and the expansion of antiretroviral treatment during pregnancy," the researchers point out.
One third of patients coinfected with HBV and HIV infection through blood transfusion, while 99% of children infected with HIV by her mother alone.
Children with HBV or HCV is much more likely to have advanced HIV disease compared to children infected with HIV alone, the researchers say, and more likely to have lower CD4 counts and higher HIV viral load.
"Over the last 15 years, we observed a remarkable decline in the transmission of HCV and HBV infection from mother-to-child," the authors conclude. "However, the high prevalence of co-infection were noted in this cohort, it is appropriate to screen all the viral hepatitis in HIV-infected adolescents."
"The level of HBV and HCV may be much higher in Asia and Africa," Dr. Toussi said. "Of course this is due to the inability to screen blood products and no access to HBV vaccine in developing countries."