Hepatitis C-Exposed Infants More Likely To Be Screened Under Early-Testing Policies, Study Finds

Healio (6/25, Weldon) reports, “When it comes to screening perinatally exposed infants for hepatitis C virus, the earlier the better, a study showed. Specifically, researchers found that exposed infants were more likely to be screened for HCV if their pediatrician’s policy was to test them at 2 months, according to study results published in Pediatrics. The rates [went] down as the length of pediatricians’ testing policies increased.” In the study, “90.9% of infants were tested if the policy was to screen at 2 months, 79.6% if the policy was to screen at 2 to 12 months, 61.9% for a 12-month policy and 58.5% if the policy was 18 months (P < .001).”