Welcome to HCV Advocate’s hepatitis blog. The intent of this blog is to keep our website audience up-to-date on information about hepatitis and to answer some of our web site and training audience questions. People are encouraged to submit questions and post comments.

For more information on how to use this blog, the HCV drug pipeline, and for more information on HCV clinical trials
click here

Be sure to check out our other blogs: The HBV Advocate Blog and Hepatitis & Tattoos.


Alan Franciscus

Editor-in-Chief

HCV Advocate



Showing posts with label screening recommendations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label screening recommendations. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2015

EASL 2015: Hepatitis C screening essential to help catch patients with advanced liver fibrosis

Research validates the current recommendation that screening for hepatitis C, particularly among high-risk groups, is vital.

April 25, 2015, Vienna, Austria: Study results presented today at The International Liver Congress™ 2015 show that the occurrence of advanced liver fibrosis is similar for patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), whether or not they have been diagnosed.

Most individuals with HCV remain asymptomatic, which makes the diagnosis difficult. The study authors used the hypothesis that individuals whose HCV is not diagnosed are less likely to have advanced fibrosis than those who have been diagnosed. They then compared liver fibrosis between respondents of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the USA, in patients with diagnosed and undiagnosed HCV infection.

Of the respondents with known HCV infection, the proportion with a high, intermediate and low probability of advanced fibrosis was 14.5%, 40.3%, 45.2%, respectively; in those with undiagnosed HCV the results were 19.1%, 30.9%, 50.0%, respectively.

The study highlights that even if people are unaware they are infected with HCV, the virus affects their liver in the same way, resulting in advanced fibrosis. These results validate the current recommendation that screening for HCV, particularly among high-risk groups, is vital.

Read complete press release here....