Management of hepatitis C in decentralised versus centralised drug substitution programmes and minimally invasive point-of-care tests to close gaps in the HCV cascade.

CONCLUSION: In contrast to HIV, HCV transmission among intravenous drug users is still ongoing. The management of hepatitis C in drug substitution patients needs improvement, especially in family practices. Minimally invasive "point-of-care" diagnostics such as the HCV antibody rapid test using capillary blood and mobile Fibroscan® can close some of the gaps in the HCV cascade. HCV RNA determination in capillary blood is still an unmet need. A "one-stop strategy" might improve linkage to care. Restricting the new, highly efficient (90-100% sustained virological response for all genotypes) direct-acting antivirals to patients with at least stage F2 fibrosis withholds treatment from two thirds of the chronically infected and prevents us from reaching the WHO goal of 80% treatment uptake necessary to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. PMID: 29185250 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Swiss Medical Weekly - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Swiss Med Wkly Source Type: research