- Hello Jeff - If the numbers of children identified with
Hepatitis C are that low in Florida, a mere 14.4 percent, if that, can
you imagine the children being missed in the rest of the nation and world?
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- If we take those numbers we could find as many as 600,000
to 1,200,000 children infected with HCV in the US.
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- Add to these the children who will be needing liver transplants
due to fatty liver disease and the future for our children is very gloomy.
Liver transplant business is now big business and in the next 10 to 20
years it will be even bigger. Lots of money for surgeons and pharmaceutical
companies. Maybe it serves the interests of those in the liver transplant
business and pharmaceutical industry to NOT identify the children in time.
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- Patty
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- Many Kids With Hepatitis C Are Missed
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- Untreated, the infection can lead to liver damage, liver
cancer
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- By Steven Reinberg
- HealthDay Reporter
- 5-2-10
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- (HealthDay News) -- Many children with hepatitis C go
undiagnosed and untreated, which can lead to severe liver damage later
in life, a new study warns.
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- Researchers from the University of Miami Miller School
of Medicine noted that national data shows that between 0.2 percent and
0.4 percent of children in the United States are infected with hepatitis
C. Based on that data, they thought they would find about 12,155 cases
of pediatric infection in Florida, yet only 1,755 cases were identified,
a mere 14.4 percent of the expected number of cases.
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- "Our study showed a lack of adequate identification
of hepatitis C virus infection in children that could be widespread throughout
the nation," said lead researcher Dr. Aymin Delgado-Borrego, a pediatric
gastroenterologist and assistant professor of pediatrics.
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- Hepatitis C is like a "ticking bomb," she said.
"It seems harmless until it explodes."
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- Most children and adults infected with hepatitis C do
not have symptoms or only nonspecific symptoms, such as fatigue or abdominal
pain, Delgado-Borrego said.
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- She planned to present the findings Sunday at the Digestive
Disease Week conference in New Orleans.
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- Delgado-Borrego chose Florida for the study because it
is one of the few states that requires all cases of the infection to be
reported to the local health department.
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- "Not only was there a lack of proper identification,
but among the children that have been identified the percentage of those
receiving medical care is extremely and unacceptably low," she said.
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- Based on these data, Delgado-Borrego's group found only
about 1.2 percent of children with hepatitis C were receiving treatment
by a pediatric hepatologist.
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- Most young children get the infection from their mothers
while in the womb. That accounts for about 60 percent of the infections
in young children, Delgado-Borrego said. Teenagers can get it through IV
drug use and other substance abuse, she added.
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- So why are so many kids missed? According to Delgado-Borrego,
there's a widespread lack of awareness of the condition and adequate screening
is not often done. Moreover, children are too often not referred to treatment.
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- "Primary care doctors should screen all children
who are at risk for hepatitis C infection, such as those whose mothers
are infected," Delgado-Borrego said.
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- In addition, infected children should be referred to
specialists, she added.
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- "Early identification of pediatric hepatitis C infection
would likely help us cure the infection in over 50 percent of children
that currently have it," Delgado-Borrego pointed out. "This would
save children from liver damage as well as possible liver failure, liver
cancer and even early death," she added.
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- Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at
New York University, said that, "this is a pretty shocking study."
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- Siegel said early diagnosis of hepatitis C is very important,
especially in children. "Because if kids have it they have a lifetime
of exposure to it, so the chances of damage to the liver is very high,"
he explained.
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- Hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver transplantation,
Siegel noted.
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- More information
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- For more information on hepatitis C, visit the U.S. National
Institutes of Health.
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- SOURCES: Aymin Delgado-Borrego, M.D., MPH, pediatric
gastroenterologist and assistant professor, pediatrics, University of Miami
Miller School of Medicine; Marc Siegel, M.D., associate professor, medicine,
New York University, New York City; May 2, 2010, presentation, Digestive
Disease Week, New Orleans
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- Copyright © 2010 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai
sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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