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Affiliations
Liana Gheorghe
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Speranta Iacob
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Irma Eva Csiki
POCU Projects, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
Laura Huiban
Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
Monica Cojocaru
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Camelia Cojocariu
Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
Roxana Nemteanu
Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
Irina Girleanu
Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
Roxana Sirli
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania
Ana Maria Singeap
Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
Corina Pop
Internal Medicine & Gastroenterology Department, University Emergency Hospital, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Dan L Dumitrascu
2 nd Department of Internal Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Roxana Vadan
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
Razvan Iacob
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Mircea Diculescu
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Anca Trifan
Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
Ioan Sporea
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania
Cristian Gheorghe
Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
How to Cite
The Prevalence of HCV Infection and Risk Factors in a Hospital- Based Population Screening, a First Step to the Micro-Elimination of HCV Infection in Medical Institutions from Romania - Results of the HepC ALERT Study
- Liana Gheorghe ,
- Speranta Iacob ,
- Irma Eva Csiki ,
- Laura Huiban ,
- Monica Cojocaru ,
- Camelia Cojocariu ,
- Roxana Nemteanu ,
- Irina Girleanu ,
- Roxana Sirli ,
- Ana Maria Singeap ,
- Corina Pop ,
- Dan L Dumitrascu ,
- Roxana Vadan ,
- Razvan Iacob ,
- Mircea Diculescu ,
- Anca Trifan ,
- Ioan Sporea ,
- Cristian Gheorghe
Abstract
Background and Aims: Elimination of hepatitis C worldwide is more feasible if micro-elimination screening strategies are adopted. We aimed to screen hepatitis C virus (HCV) in specific high-risk populations in certain sub-regions of Romania and link them to antiviral treatment.
Methods: A multicenter prospective study was conducted among the hospitalized or ambulatory adult patients from March 2019 to March 2020 in more than 20 medical institutions from 4 Romanian cities (Bucharest, Iasi, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca). A rapid diagnostic test for HCV diagnosis was performed to all admitted patients and the positive ones were sent to gastroenterology departments for confirming the active infection, staging and treatment prescription.
Results: In total, 25,141 subjects signed the informed consent and were consequently enrolled into the study. The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was 1.39% (95%CI: 1.25-1.54) and increased with the number of risk factors presented by one subject. There was a positive association between the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and female gender (p<0.001), rural area of residence (p<0.001), advanced age (p<0.001), as well as a negative association with the education level (p<0.001).
Conclusions: In a hospital-based screening micro-elimination program in Romania, HCV prevalence was lower than previously reported. This is a first step towards a cost-effective screening in a well-defined group of persons at risk and provides sufficient capacity to deliver access to HCV treatment and linkage to care in Romania.