Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May;42(5):1012-1016.
doi: 10.1111/liv.15216. Epub 2022 Mar 12.

Implementation of HCV screening in the 1969-1989 birth-cohort undergoing COVID-19 vaccination

Roberta D'Ambrosio  1 , Giuliano Rizzardini  2 , Massimo Puoti  3 , Stefano Fagiuoli  4 , Maria Paola Anolli  1 , Claudia Gabiati  5 , Federico D'Amico  3 , Luisa Pasulo  4 , Umberto Restelli  6   7 , Massimo Colombo  8 , Pietro Lampertico  1   9
Affiliations

Implementation of HCV screening in the 1969-1989 birth-cohort undergoing COVID-19 vaccination

Roberta D'Ambrosio et al. Liver Int. 2022 May.

Abstract

Background and aim: The World Health Organization (WHO) goal of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030 relies on the scaling-up of both identification and linkage to care of the infected population, worldwide. In Italy, the estimated burden of HCV carriers who are unaware of their infection amounts to 200 000 persons, a projection that reinforces the need for broadening population access to effective screening programmes.

Methods: A pivotal screening programme targeting subjects born between 1969 and 1989 has been conducted in Lombardy, Northern Italy, where point-of-care (POC) testing was offered for free concomitantly to COVID-19 vaccination.

Results: Amongst 7219 subjects born between 1969 and 1989 who underwent HCV screening through POC, 7 (0.10%) subjects tested anti-HCV positive: 5 (0.07%) had confirmed anti-HCV positivity (Table 1) and 4 of them (0.05%) were HCV-RNA positive by standard confirmation tests.

Conclusions: This pivotal study demonstrated the feasibility of a POC-based anti-HCV screening programme in young adults undergoing COVID-19 vaccination. The prevalence of HCV infection in subjects born in the 1969-1989 cohort in Italy seems to be lower than previously estimated. Whether the extension of this programme to subjects born before 1969 could lead to improved screening effectiveness should be a matter of debate.

Keywords: POC; WHO; birth-cohorts; hepatitis C virus; screening.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Roberta D’Ambrosio: speaking, teaching and advisory board for AbbVie, Gilead, MSD; consultant for AbbVie and Takeda; research grant from AbbVie and Gilead. Giuliano Rizzardini: speaking, teaching and advisory board for AbbVie, Gilead, MSD, Viiv, GSK, Angelini, Janssen. Massimo Puoti: Advisory Board/Speaker Bureau for AbbVie, Bristo‐Myers, Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Gilead, MSD and Roche; research grant from Gilead and MSD. Stefano Fagiuoli: Advisory Board/Speaker Bureau for AbbVie, Gilead, MSD, Bayer, Novartis, Kedrion, Intercept, Astellas. Luisa Pasulo: Advisory Board for AbbVie. Umberto Restelli: Speaker for Abbott. Massimo Colombo: Advisory Board/Speaker Bureau for Gilead Sciences, Intercept, Exelixis, Galapagos, Target HCC. Pietro Lampertico: Advisory Board/Speaker Bureau for BMS, Roche, Gilead Sciences, GSK, AbbVie, MSD, Arrowhead, Alnylam, Janssen, Spring Bank, MYR, Eiger, Aligos, Antios. The other authors have nothing to disclose.

Comment in

References

    1. https://www.who.int/news‐room/fact‐sheets/detail/hepatitis‐c. Accessed March 4, 2022.
    1. World health organization global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016‐2021. WHO; 2016. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/246177/WHO‐HIV‐2016.06‐.... Accessed March 4, 2022.
    1. Andriulli A, Stroffolini T, Mariano A, et al. Declining prevalence and increasing awareness of hepatitis C virus infection in Italy: a population‐based survey. Eur J Intern Med. 2018;53:79‐84. - PubMed
    1. Monitoraggio, U.R.D. Aggiornamento dati Registri AIFA DAAs, epatite C cronica. Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco. http://www.agenziafarmaco.gov.it/content/registri‐farmaci‐sottoposti‐mon.... Accessed July 30, 2021.
    1. Kondili LA, Andreoni M, Alberti A, et al. Estimated prevalence of undiagnosed HCV infected individuals in Italy: a mathematical model by route of transmission and fibrosis progression. Epidemics. 2021;34:100442. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources