Mother‐to‐infant transmission of GB virus type C/HGV

BACKGROUND: The potentially hepatotropic flavivirus‐like virus, GB virus type C (GBV‐C)/HGV, has been detected in a few patients with acute and chronic hepatitis and in a certain proportion of blood donors and recipients of blood or blood components. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Sera from 2979 pregnant Japanese women were examined for the presence of GBV‐C/HGV RNA by nested RT‐PCR. Mothers who were positive for viral RNA and their 34 infants were followed and tested for infection. RESULTS: Of the 2979 women, 32 (1.1%) were positive for GBV‐C/HGV RNA. Twenty‐six (76.5%) of 34 babies born to these women were positive for the virus when first tested. A significantly higher titer of viral RNA was observed in mothers whose infants were infected than in those whose infants were uninfected (mean ± SD, 106.3 ± 0.9 vs. 104.6 ± 0.9/mL; p