Hepatitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hepatitis, including details on hepatitis a, b, c, causes, symptoms. | ||||||||
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Impact of maternal HIV coinfection on the vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus: a meta-analysis.Polis CB, Shah SN, Johnson KE, Gupta A Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. cpolis@jhsph.edu BACKGROUND: Observational studies suggest that maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is associated with increased odds of vertical HCV transmission. We performed a meta-analysis to summarize current evidence. METHODS: We systematically searched for relevant articles published during the period from January 1992 through July 2006 and independently abstracted articles that met our inclusion criteria. Under a random effects model, we calculated the pooled odds ratio for vertical HCV transmission according to maternal HIV-HCV coinfection status and performed sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Ten articles met our inclusion criteria. Study quality varied widely, and study estimates displayed high statistical heterogeneity. Restriction of the analysis to studies that included >50 HIV-HCV-coinfected women provided our most reliable estimate: maternal HIV-HCV coinfection increases the odds of vertical HCV transmission by approximately 90% (odds ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.36-2.67), compared with maternal HCV infection alone. When we restricted analyses to HIV-infected mothers with HCV viremia, the odds of vertical HCV transmission were 2.82-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.17-fold to 6.81-fold) greater than the odds for HIV-infected mothers without HCV viremia. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-HCV-coinfected women have significantly higher odds of transmitting HCV to their infants than do women who are infected with HCV alone. Published 16 March 2007 in Clin Infect Dis, 44(8): 1123-31.
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