Chronic Hepatitis C Management in Children

Background3.5 to 5 million children are estimated to have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection all over world while prevalence in pediatric population is 0.15% (0.6% in high income and 0.3% in low income countries).In 1,2 Indian studies HCV prevalence among all age groups is 1-1.9%.In a recent population based study, in 5-18 3 years age group HCV seroprevalence was 0.7% while RNA positivity was 0.4%.Main route of HCV 4 acquisition in children is from mother to child vertical transmission.In children as compared to adults, HCV infection leading to cirrhosis (1-4%) is uncommon and hepatocellular carcinoma is rare.Weather to treat 5