Hepatitis C Virus Screening of High-Risk Patients in a Canadian Emergency Department.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Approximately 0.7% of the Canadian population is infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and many individuals are unaware of their infection. Our objectives were to utilize an emergency department (ED) based point-of-care (POC) HCV screening test to describe our local population and estimate the proportion of high-risk patients in our population with undiagnosed HCV.

Methods

A convenience sample of medically stable patients (≥18 years) presenting to a community ED in Calgary, AB, between April and July 2018 underwent rapid clinical screening for HCV risk factors, including history of injection drug use, healthcare in endemic countries, and other recognized criteria. High-risk patients were offered POC HCV testing. Antibody-positive patients underwent HCV-RNA testin

SUBMITTER: Ragan K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7049435 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature