Hepatitis C: 5-minute test, accurate results?

#HepatitisC #Immunity #InfectiousDiseases #Diagnosis    


Hepatitis C remains a major global health issue, with nearly 50 million people infected worldwide. Although highly effective treatments are now available, screening continues to be a weak link in the care cascade—especially among vulnerable populations such as people who inject drugs (PWID), who are the main at-risk group.  

Despite universal access to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), screening and treatment rates are declining. The standard diagnostic pathway—based on venous blood draws and delayed results—often leads to loss to follow-up, particularly among PWID. In this context, rapid point-of-care tests offer a promising alternative. However, their specificity remains limited: a significant number of positive results concern patients who have already cleared the infection, leading to unnecessary confirmatory RNA testing. This hampers the operational efficiency of screening campaigns, especially in resource-limited settings. The current challenge is therefore to balance speed, simplicity, and reliability.    

This study assessed whether reading the OraQuick rapid test at 5 minutes—rather than the recommended 20 minutes—could reduce unnecessary RNA tests without missing active infections.