HCV INFECTION: STILL MANY OPEN ISSUES

Key words: HCV, Hepatitis, Screening

HCV infection represents an emerging problem in an era of achieved control of HBV infection. There are still many open issues that the Authors briefly discuss. They regard the mechanisms of hepatic damage leading to chronic disease in a high proportion of cases, the importance of early infection, viral load and viral genotype with respect to the ultimate prognosis of the disease, the timing and mechanisms of vertical transmission. Due to unpredictability of the effectiveness of treatment with interferon in children, the usefulness of screening is also open to debate. At present there are no evidence for witholding breastfeeding in infants from HCV positive mothers.