Take action against viral HCV by leveraging screening programs and HCV Ag

Hepatitis B and C continues to be a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, resulting in 1.1 million deaths and 3 million new infections per year¹. Although effective pan-genotypic direct acting antiviral² therapies have cure rates exceeding 95%^3,4, new HCV infections continue to be on the rise largely due to the opioid crisis⁶. In order to reach the WHO goal of HCV disease elimination by 2030, improving diagnostic algorithms and linking individuals to low barrier care will be imperative. At present, there are an estimated 58 million⁴ people living with chronic HCV infection worldwide, many of whom may be unaware of their infection⁵. The first step in patient diagnosis is implementing effective HCV screening programs to identify people infected with the virus and to connect them to care programs. Leveraging the Anti-HCV diagnostic test and reflexing to HCV Ag allows laboratories to provide a patient diagnosis with a single blood draw and may greatly reduce screening costs in various settings by improving the efficiency of the screening algorithm.

 

References

1.    World Hepatitis Day 2021, WHO https://www.who.intcampaignsworld-hepatitis-day2021 Accessed 07-01-2022

2.    Zoratti M.J.  Siddiqua A., Morassut R.E., Zeraatkar D., Chou R., Holten J., Xie F., Druyts E. Elsevier Clinical Medicine. 2020; 18, 100237.

3.    Collins L.F., Chan A., et al. OFID. 2017; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5753271/pdf/ofx264.pdf, accessed March 9, 2022.

4.    Hepatitis C. World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-c. Accessed February 5, 2022.

5.    Know your hepatitis status – increasing access to testing for a hidden infection. World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/features/2016/access-hepatitis-testing/en/ Published July 2016. Accessed April 3, 2018.

6.    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance—United States, 2018.  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2020. Accessed August 9, 2020.  https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/statistics/2018surveillance/index.htm

 

Learning Objectives