Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target?
In the European Union, it is estimated that there are 5.5 million individuals with chronic infection of hepatitis C. Intravenous drug abuse is undoubtedly the key source of the hepatitis C epidemic in Europe and the most efficient mode of transmission of HCV infections (primarily due to short incuba...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-06-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
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Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2017.00437/full |
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author | Mirjana R. Jovanovic Mirjana R. Jovanovic Aleksandar Miljatovic Laslo Puskas Slobodan Kapor Dijana L. Puskas |
author_facet | Mirjana R. Jovanovic Mirjana R. Jovanovic Aleksandar Miljatovic Laslo Puskas Slobodan Kapor Dijana L. Puskas |
author_sort | Mirjana R. Jovanovic |
collection | DOAJ |
description | In the European Union, it is estimated that there are 5.5 million individuals with chronic infection of hepatitis C. Intravenous drug abuse is undoubtedly the key source of the hepatitis C epidemic in Europe and the most efficient mode of transmission of HCV infections (primarily due to short incubation time, but also because the virus is introduced directly into the blood stream with the infected needle). Potentially high-risk and vulnerable populations in Europe (and the world) include immigrants, prisoners, sex workers, men having sex with men, individuals infected with HIV, psychoactive substance users etc. Since there is a lack of direct evidence of clinical benefits of HCV testing, decisions related to testing are made based on indirect evidence. Clinical practice has shown that HCV antibody tests are mostly adequate for identification of HCV infection, but the problem is that this testing strategy does not hit the target. As a result of this health care system strategy, a large number of infected patients remain undetected or they are diagnosed late. There is only a vague link between screening and treatment outcomes since there is a lack of evidence on transmission risks, multiple causes, risk behavior, ways of reaching screening decisions, treatment efficiency, etc. According to results of limited number of studies it can be concluded that there is a need to develop targeted programmes for detection of HCV and other infections, but there also a need to decrease potential harms. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:57:12Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-d8446110ae444c7ab76a7a18b4b67751 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1663-9812 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:57:12Z |
publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
spelling | doaj.art-d8446110ae444c7ab76a7a18b4b677512022-12-21T18:23:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pharmacology1663-98122017-06-01810.3389/fphar.2017.00437269995Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target?Mirjana R. Jovanovic0Mirjana R. Jovanovic1Aleksandar Miljatovic2Laslo Puskas3Slobodan Kapor4Dijana L. Puskas5Psychiatric Clinic, Clinical Center KragujevacKragujevac, SerbiaDepartment for Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of KragujevacKragujevac, SerbiaPsychiatric Clinic, Clinical Center ZvezdaraBelgrade, SerbiaFaculty of Medicine, University of BelgradeBelgrade, SerbiaFaculty of Medicine, University of BelgradeBelgrade, SerbiaFaculty of Special Rehabilitation and Education, University of BelgradeBelgrade, SerbiaIn the European Union, it is estimated that there are 5.5 million individuals with chronic infection of hepatitis C. Intravenous drug abuse is undoubtedly the key source of the hepatitis C epidemic in Europe and the most efficient mode of transmission of HCV infections (primarily due to short incubation time, but also because the virus is introduced directly into the blood stream with the infected needle). Potentially high-risk and vulnerable populations in Europe (and the world) include immigrants, prisoners, sex workers, men having sex with men, individuals infected with HIV, psychoactive substance users etc. Since there is a lack of direct evidence of clinical benefits of HCV testing, decisions related to testing are made based on indirect evidence. Clinical practice has shown that HCV antibody tests are mostly adequate for identification of HCV infection, but the problem is that this testing strategy does not hit the target. As a result of this health care system strategy, a large number of infected patients remain undetected or they are diagnosed late. There is only a vague link between screening and treatment outcomes since there is a lack of evidence on transmission risks, multiple causes, risk behavior, ways of reaching screening decisions, treatment efficiency, etc. According to results of limited number of studies it can be concluded that there is a need to develop targeted programmes for detection of HCV and other infections, but there also a need to decrease potential harms.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2017.00437/fullhepatitis C infectiontesting strategiesrisk groupscost-effectiveness |
spellingShingle | Mirjana R. Jovanovic Mirjana R. Jovanovic Aleksandar Miljatovic Laslo Puskas Slobodan Kapor Dijana L. Puskas Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target? Frontiers in Pharmacology hepatitis C infection testing strategies risk groups cost-effectiveness |
title | Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target? |
title_full | Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target? |
title_fullStr | Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target? |
title_full_unstemmed | Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target? |
title_short | Does the Strategy of Risk Group Testing for Hepatitis C Hit the Target? |
title_sort | does the strategy of risk group testing for hepatitis c hit the target |
topic | hepatitis C infection testing strategies risk groups cost-effectiveness |
url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2017.00437/full |
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