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. 2025 Apr 18;12(5):ofaf238.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaf238. eCollection 2025 May.

Time to Initiation of Hepatitis B Treatment is Reduced With the Use of the Xpert HBV Viral Load Kit

Hailemichael Desalegn Sr  1   2 , Nega Berhe  3   4 , Lasse Rossvoll  3   5 , Fikadu Girma  6 , Dawit Brhane  7 , Ahmed Hussen  8 , Waqtola Cheneke  9 , Asgeir Johannessen Sr  3   10
Affiliations

Time to Initiation of Hepatitis B Treatment is Reduced With the Use of the Xpert HBV Viral Load Kit

Hailemichael Desalegn Sr et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Timely initiation of hepatitis B virus treatment is essential for improving prognosis and outcomes. In Ethiopia, the use of the Xpert hepatitis B virus viral load kit significantly shortened the turnaround time compared to standard laboratory methods. By reducing the time to a treatment decision to 1 day, the Xpert kit allowed for quicker treatment initiation at lower costs, potentially saving lives that might otherwise be lost due to treatment delays.

Keywords: antiviral therapy; hepatitis B; point-of-care; resource-limited settings; viral load.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Graphical abstract
Graphical abstract
This graphical abstract is also available at Tidbit: https://tidbitapp.io/tidbits/time-to-initiation-of-hepatitis-b-treatment-is-reduced-with-the-use-of-the-xpert-hbv-viral-load-kit?utm_campaign=tidbitlinkshare&utm_source=ITP
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Comparison of turnaround time for point-of-care test versus standard laboratory-based test for treatment decision Abbreviations: LFU, lost to follow-up; POC, point-of-care; SOC, standard of care.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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