Disease Management

Screening

General screening is advisable for high-risk groups, for example individuals who may have received infected blood (such as haemophiliacs) or organ transplants, intravenous drug users, haemodialysis patients and patients already diagnosed with HIV infection. Patients should be tested for HCV antibodies (HCV) and HBsAg (HBV). Results have be confirmed by PCR, if tests are postive.

Such screening initiatives should identify infected patients not presenting with symptoms (or those with non-specific symptoms), but who still require treatment or long-term surveillance to track disease progression and advice on life-style modifications, eg alcohol avoidance. Moreover, identification of the ‘silent pool’ of infected patients will help prevent further transmission of HCV.

In light of data demonstrating that early treatment of acute hepatitis C is able to prevent the development of chronic HCV infection (Jaeckel et al, 2001), the early screening and diagnosis of patients with acute HCV infection may be of even greater importance.

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