Infectious Disease Advisor spoke further with Dr Espinosa to learn more about challenges and potential solutions regarding HCV infection in younger patients.
Infectious Disease Advisor: What are some of the challenges pertaining to HCV management in pediatric patients?
Children infected with hepatitis C face environmental, provider, and system-based challenges, such as underreporting. The lack of screening in pregnant women in many states makes it difficult to identify infected children, as the disease may not be symptomatic for years. In fact, Kentucky just recently passed a bill for universal screening. There is a lack of structured protocols to follow-up on those affected children so we can identify earlier, rather than later, those who will require therapy.
There is also a lack of provider education regarding proper follow-up and necessary testing. Some providers may be uncertain about identifying the correct test to use in the setting of many different options.
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