Reducing Read Time of Point of Care Test Does Not Affect Detection of Hepatitis C Virus and Reduces Need for Reflex RNA

Global elimination of hepatitis C virus (HCV) will require increases in diagnosis. Point of care (POC) tests that detect antibodies against HCV can be useful for testing large and difficult to reach populations. The most accurate POC test requires a 20 min read time to identify antibody-positive samples. We investigated whether viremic patients could be identified using a shorter read time, to increase efficiency and reduce the need for reflex tests (a follow-up test for HCV RNA on the same specimen, to confirm viremia).
Source: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Source Type: research