Funding outcome

Hepatitis C (HCV) is a dangerous virus that infects millions each year. Moms can pass HCV infections to their babies during pregnancy and develop life-long liver issues. One problem is that symptoms are generally not seen until it is too late. This means that moms often don't know they are infected, so those who have HCV are not identified and are not referred to see specialized doctors for treatment. Right now, only women who are considered high risk for HCV are tested during pregnancy. However, it is hard for doctors to know if a woman is high risk because they may not know the woman's drug or sexual history. In our study, we will test all pregnant women in Alberta for HCV. This will identify all women who are infected and allow all babies born to infected moms to be tested. We will determine the number of women that are infected with HCV from our study and compare it to the number of women that were identified by the risk-based method before our study. If testing all moms for HCV identifies more infections than the risk-based method, the Alberta government may permanently add HCV testing for all pregnant women. Moreover, only about 1/3 of women who are infected are currently sent to specialized doctors for treatment. This study will also create an automated referral system to link all moms who are infected with these specialized doctors. Once it is established, it will remain functioning for all pregnant women with HCV in the future, regardless of screening method. Our goal is to refer 100% of all women and their infants to specialized doctors. Overall, we expect our study will improve the number of women and children that are tested and treated for HCV in Alberta.