Department of Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, Tokat, Turkey.
Department of Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology, İzmir Buca Seyfi Demirsoy Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
Turk J Med Sci. 2022 Dec;52(6):1984-1990. doi: 10.55730/1300-0144.5546. Epub 2022 Dec 21.
Currently, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can be cured by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). In this study, we aimed to find the rate of viremia among patients with a positive anti-HCV test and the rate of antiviral treatment given to viremic patients. We also aimed to reach patients with anti-HCV positivity but not tested for HCV-RNA, and patients, who were diagnosed with HCV-RNA positivity but received no treatment.
In this study, individuals tested for anti-HCV in Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Research and Application Hospital in the period between January 2010 and January 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. Anti-HCV positive patients, who were not tested for HCV-RNA, and HCV-RNA positive patients, who did not receive treatment, were called for a follow-up visit in the outpatient clinic.
: The prevalences of anti-HCV positivity and viremia among patients were 2.24% and 0.67%, respectively. A HCV-RNA test was ordered in 71.7% of the anti-HCV positive patients. Antiviral treatment was not given to 44.4% of the viremic patients. Of the patients, who were called for a follow-up visit in the outpatient clinic, 3.9% attended the visit. Of these patients, 0.8% were HCV-RNA positive and 0.7% received treatment.
Although the rate of HCV-RNA testing was relatively high in patients with anti-HCV positivity, almost half of them did not receive treatment. We could reach only one-third of the patients, who were called for a follow-up visit, and only a few patients received treatment. Individuals with anti-HCV positivity should be referred to a specialist without delay and HCV-RNA testing should be performed immediately to achieve HCV elimination targets. The likelihood of difficulties in reaching patients later should be considered.
目前，丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染可以通过直接作用抗病毒药物（DAA）治愈。本研究旨在确定抗 HCV 检测阳性患者的病毒血症发生率以及给予病毒血症患者抗病毒治疗的比例。我们还旨在找到抗 HCV 阳性但未检测 HCV-RNA 的患者，以及诊断为 HCV-RNA 阳性但未接受治疗的患者。
本研究回顾性分析了 2010 年 1 月至 2020 年 1 月期间在托卡特加齐奥斯曼帕夏大学研究与应用医院接受抗 HCV 检测的个体。未检测 HCV-RNA 的抗 HCV 阳性患者和未接受治疗的 HCV-RNA 阳性患者在门诊接受随访。
抗 HCV 阳性和病毒血症患者的比例分别为 2.24%和 0.67%。71.7%的抗 HCV 阳性患者进行了 HCV-RNA 检测。44.4%的病毒血症患者未接受抗病毒治疗。在门诊接受随访的患者中，有 3.9%的患者就诊。这些患者中，有 0.8%的 HCV-RNA 阳性，0.7%的患者接受了治疗。
尽管抗 HCV 阳性患者进行 HCV-RNA 检测的比例相对较高，但几乎一半的患者未接受治疗。我们只能联系到三分之一的需要随访的患者，其中只有少数患者接受了治疗。有抗 HCV 阳性的个体应立即转介给专家，并立即进行 HCV-RNA 检测，以实现 HCV 消除目标。应考虑以后难以联系到患者的可能性。
