Clinical Practice Guidelines: Hepatitis C Testing Guidelines

CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES (FULL LIST)

Hepatitis C Testing Guidelines (CPG)

Hepatitis C General Information

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes a liver infection. HCV can be spread through contact with blood from an infected person or perinatally. For some people, HCV causes a short-term illness, but for others, it can be a chronic infection.1

All pregnant persons should be screened for HCV  infection during each pregnancy. While the risk of perinatal transmission is low (4-8%), it is significantly higher if the mother has a high HCV viral load or is coinfected with poorly controlled HIV. Most infants infected with HCV at birth have no signs or symptoms and therefore appropriate testing is of utmost importance.1

Hepatitis C CPG Team:

  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Sophie Katz, MD, MPH
  • Pediatric Hepatology: Saeed Mohammad, MD, MS
  • General Pediatrics: Kathryn Carlson, MD

Health Equity Considerations:

Per the CDC, the rate of acute HCV infection is highest in non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native populations and increased in this group by 7.4% from 2021-2022 despite declining rates in non-Hispanic White persons during the same time period. Additionally, the rates of reported HCV-related deaths among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native persons and non-Hispanic Black persons were 3.3 times and 1.7 times as high as the rate among non-Hispanic White persons, respectively.1

Tracking Metrics:

  • Number of “Hepatitis C IgG” and “PCR Hepatitis C Virus Qt” tests performed at a general pediatric visit
  • Number of referrals to hepatology for Hepatitis C

Reference:

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report – United States, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/statistics/2022surveillance/index.htm Published April 2024. Accessed April 9, 2024.