I've been contacted by a nursing mom of a two month old baby.  She screened
positive for Hep C at the birth of her baby, but her liver function tests
were high.  Her medical team contacted the CDC for an update, then gave her
the go-ahead to nurse. Everything went well until last week when her liver
enzymes tested high.  Her doctors believe that the virus is active, and
both her pedi and her OB/Gyn now recommend that she stop nursing.  Mom
really wants to continue nursing if it is safe.  She is quite worried about
the safety of formula.

Here are her questions:

1)  Is it safe for her to continue nursing?

2) Have there been any studies of the risk of transmission of HepC in
nursing women in the *acute phase* of illness?

3)  What is the average length of the acute phase?

4)   Would it be possible to heat-treat her expressed milk to kill the
virus?  Could this be easily done at home?

5) Is there any benefit to having herself & baby tested for HepC virus?

6)  What other alternatives might she be overlooking?

Thanks so much for any help you can give this distraught mom!

Cindy Turner-Maffei
Massachusetts, USA