Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
ASST Fatebenefratelli-Sacco, First Division of Infectious Diseases, Milan, Italy.
Liver Int. 2022 May;42(5):1012-1016. doi: 10.1111/liv.15216. Epub 2022 Mar 12.
The World Health Organization (WHO) goal of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030 relies on the scaling-up of both identification and linkage to care of the infected population, worldwide. In Italy, the estimated burden of HCV carriers who are unaware of their infection amounts to 200 000 persons, a projection that reinforces the need for broadening population access to effective screening programmes.
A pivotal screening programme targeting subjects born between 1969 and 1989 has been conducted in Lombardy, Northern Italy, where point-of-care (POC) testing was offered for free concomitantly to COVID-19 vaccination.
Amongst 7219 subjects born between 1969 and 1989 who underwent HCV screening through POC, 7 (0.10%) subjects tested anti-HCV positive: 5 (0.07%) had confirmed anti-HCV positivity (Table 1) and 4 of them (0.05%) were HCV-RNA positive by standard confirmation tests.
This pivotal study demonstrated the feasibility of a POC-based anti-HCV screening programme in young adults undergoing COVID-19 vaccination. The prevalence of HCV infection in subjects born in the 1969-1989 cohort in Italy seems to be lower than previously estimated. Whether the extension of this programme to subjects born before 1969 could lead to improved screening effectiveness should be a matter of debate.
世界卫生组织（WHO）的目标是在 2030 年前消除丙型肝炎病毒（HCV），这依赖于全球范围内扩大对受感染人群的发现和联系，以提供治疗。在意大利，估计有 20 万 HCV 携带者不知道自己被感染，这一预测加强了扩大人群获得有效筛查计划的必要性。
意大利北部伦巴第大区开展了一项针对 1969 年至 1989 年出生人群的重要筛查计划，该计划同时为 COVID-19 疫苗接种提供了即时检测（POC）服务。
在接受 POC 筛查的 7219 名 1969 年至 1989 年出生的人群中，有 7 人（0.10%）抗 HCV 检测呈阳性：5 人（0.07%）抗 HCV 阳性确诊（表 1），其中 4 人（0.05%）标准确认试验 HCV-RNA 阳性。
这项重要研究证明了在接受 COVID-19 疫苗接种的年轻人中进行 POC 为基础的抗 HCV 筛查计划的可行性。意大利 1969-1989 年出生人群 HCV 感染的患病率似乎低于之前的估计。将该计划扩大到 1969 年之前出生的人群是否能提高筛查效果，这应该是一个值得讨论的问题。
