Recently at a conference a colleague of mine from the Lactation Resource
Centre, mentioned Hep C as question frequently raised.  A friendly
biochemist told her:" Forget about Hep C, Hep G is about to become the hot
new topic."  Sure enough, recently, a Melbourne paper carried a headline
stating that Hep G is transferred through breastmilk.  When we got the
article (published in the Medical Journal of Australia) it suggested that
mother-to-baby transmission had taken place and there were three possible
routes: 1) during the birth itself, 2) perinatally through close contact
between mother and baby or 3) through breastmilk.  There was nothing to
indicate that breastfeeding was the more likely route.  We later saw another
 press article (this time in a popular newspaper for general practitioners)
where the reporter had been in touch with the researcher and had questioned
him about the more likely route.  The response was that breastfeeding was
the least likely route, as hep G is a flavavirus and breastmilk has
antibodies that will destroy the virus.

No doubt more research is needed to establish what the route of transmission
is.  In the meantime, I wish that papers, and sub-editors would not be so
quick to blame breastfeeding.

Philippa Thomson
Melbourne, Australia