Department of Virology, Royal Free Hospital. Pond St, London NW3 2QG.
Ian Charleson Day Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom; Institute for Global Health, University College London, United Kingdom.
J Clin Virol. 2024 Dec;175:105735. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2024.105735. Epub 2024 Oct 8.
Opt-out Emergency Department blood borne virus (EDBBV) screening was introduced at the Royal Free Hospital under the NHSEI (NHS England and NHS Improvement) programme to expand opt-out testing in local authority areas with high HIV prevalence. This initiative was part of the "Toward Zero" policy towards ending HIV transmission in England by 2030.
All patients attending the Royal Free Hospital Emergency Department (ED) aged 16 and over were screened for blood borne viruses (HIV/HBV/HCV) unless they opted out. We looked at HIV data from patients seen in ED between the initiation of EDBBV testing on the 12 of April and 12 of August 2022. Hepatitis B and C data was reviewed in a separate study.
A total of 12,208 samples from 10,641 patients were screened for HIV. Amongst these samples there were 88 which were positive, giving a seroprevalence of 0.84 %. There were 48 patients who were already known to local HIV services, 35 were known to HIV services outside of our Trust and 5 were new diagnoses.
Our results confirmed our local HIV prevalence to be very high, as per the UK Health Security Agency and supports the need for HIV testing. Opt-out ED BBV screening has been a highly effective method for identifying people living with HIV who are unaware of their status.
在 NHSEI（英格兰和威尔士国民保健署改进署）计划下，皇家自由医院推出了选择退出的急诊室血源性病毒（EDBBV）筛查，以扩大在 HIV 流行率高的地方当局地区的选择退出检测。这一举措是“迈向零”政策的一部分，该政策旨在到 2030 年在英格兰结束 HIV 传播。
所有在皇家自由医院急诊科就诊的年龄在 16 岁及以上的患者，除非选择退出，否则将接受血源性病毒（HIV/HBV/HCV）筛查。我们观察了从 2022 年 4 月 12 日开始进行 EDBBV 检测到 8 月 12 日期间在急诊科就诊的患者的 HIV 数据。乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎的数据在另一项研究中进行了审查。
共对 10641 名患者的 12208 个样本进行了 HIV 筛查。在这些样本中，有 88 个呈阳性，血清流行率为 0.84%。有 48 名患者已经为当地 HIV 服务机构所知，35 名患者为我们信托基金以外的 HIV 服务机构所知，5 名患者为新诊断病例。
我们的结果证实，我们当地的 HIV 流行率非常高，与英国卫生安全局一致，并支持进行 HIV 检测的必要性。选择退出的 ED BBV 筛查是一种非常有效的方法，可以发现那些不知道自己 HIV 状况的 HIV 感染者。
