HCV microelimination strategies: An interventional study in diagnosed patients without access to the system

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) one‐step diagnosis improves recovery in patients with active infection. However, patients with previous anti‐HCV+ may be excluded. We aimed to identify and retrieve non‐referred or lost‐to‐follow‐up HCV‐infected patients. All anti‐HCV+ patients seen in our hospital between 2013 and 2018 were included. In the first phase, we identified anti‐HCV+ patients who were not referred to the Gastroenterology Unit (GU) or lost‐to‐follow‐up. In the second phase, recovered patients were invited for a one‐step visit for liver evaluation. A total of 1330 anti‐HCV+ patients were included: 21.7% had not been referred to GU, and 23.1% were lost‐to‐follow‐up. In the second phase, 49.6% of patients were contacted, and 92.8% attended a medical consultation: 62.7% had active infection, 92.2% were treated, and 86.5% achieved SVR (ITT). We concluded that screening microbiological data and referring unidentified patients with active HCV infection directly to specialists is an effective tool in achieving HCV microelimination.