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P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: In Argentina, it is estimated that around 50% of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been diagnosed and only 5% of those have accessed treatment after several months; this reality got worse with the pandemic. World Health Organization proposed a global he...

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Autores principales: Sotera, Gisela Fabiana, Ferreiro, Melina, Martes, Margarita, Nancy, Cordero, Salmon, Jonathan, Sordá, Juan, Daruich, Jorge, Ballerga, Esteban González
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Published by Elsevier España, S.L. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10030174/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aohep.2023.100937
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author Sotera, Gisela Fabiana
Ferreiro, Melina
Martes, Margarita
Nancy, Cordero
Salmon, Jonathan
Sordá, Juan
Daruich, Jorge
Ballerga, Esteban González
author_facet Sotera, Gisela Fabiana
Ferreiro, Melina
Martes, Margarita
Nancy, Cordero
Salmon, Jonathan
Sordá, Juan
Daruich, Jorge
Ballerga, Esteban González
author_sort Sotera, Gisela Fabiana
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: In Argentina, it is estimated that around 50% of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been diagnosed and only 5% of those have accessed treatment after several months; this reality got worse with the pandemic. World Health Organization proposed a global health sector strategy to eliminate HCV as a public health threat by 2030. Key elements of the elimination plan include increased diagnosis and treatment access. This study aimed to describe the implementation of “Relinkage and simplified care pathway program” as a strategy for micro-elimination of HCV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: : Hospital outpatients aged over 18 years, with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of HCV infection and without follow-up during the last year, were included.  Patient selection was made by collecting data from medical records. Selected patients were contacted by telephone and scheduled for a clinic visit with a simplified care pathway. “Reflex Testing,” which is an HCV antibody test, was used; if the result was positive, an HCV RNA and genotype test on the same specimen was performed. Untreated and non-responder patients were treated. RESULTS: : A total of 938 patients were included, and 409 (44%) could be reached. Out Of these, 16.3% (67) died, 1.7% (7) developed hepatocellular carcinoma, and 6.75% (15) progressed to cirrhosis. We found that 21.7% were candidates for treatment, and the treatment was delivered in two clinic visits with an average time of 29 days (7-69). However, 41% (34) of patients with cirrhosis could not be contacted. CONCLUSIONS: : Program implementation improved the diagnosis and treatment access. Furthermore, it reduces the number of clinical visits and may increase adherence to follow-up. On the other hand, we are concerned that half of the patients were lost on the follow-up and about their progression to cirrhosis rate. If we are looking for different results, we should take different measures.
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spelling pubmed-100301742023-03-22 P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Sotera, Gisela Fabiana Ferreiro, Melina Martes, Margarita Nancy, Cordero Salmon, Jonathan Sordá, Juan Daruich, Jorge Ballerga, Esteban González Ann Hepatol Article INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: In Argentina, it is estimated that around 50% of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been diagnosed and only 5% of those have accessed treatment after several months; this reality got worse with the pandemic. World Health Organization proposed a global health sector strategy to eliminate HCV as a public health threat by 2030. Key elements of the elimination plan include increased diagnosis and treatment access. This study aimed to describe the implementation of “Relinkage and simplified care pathway program” as a strategy for micro-elimination of HCV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: : Hospital outpatients aged over 18 years, with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of HCV infection and without follow-up during the last year, were included.  Patient selection was made by collecting data from medical records. Selected patients were contacted by telephone and scheduled for a clinic visit with a simplified care pathway. “Reflex Testing,” which is an HCV antibody test, was used; if the result was positive, an HCV RNA and genotype test on the same specimen was performed. Untreated and non-responder patients were treated. RESULTS: : A total of 938 patients were included, and 409 (44%) could be reached. Out Of these, 16.3% (67) died, 1.7% (7) developed hepatocellular carcinoma, and 6.75% (15) progressed to cirrhosis. We found that 21.7% were candidates for treatment, and the treatment was delivered in two clinic visits with an average time of 29 days (7-69). However, 41% (34) of patients with cirrhosis could not be contacted. CONCLUSIONS: : Program implementation improved the diagnosis and treatment access. Furthermore, it reduces the number of clinical visits and may increase adherence to follow-up. On the other hand, we are concerned that half of the patients were lost on the follow-up and about their progression to cirrhosis rate. If we are looking for different results, we should take different measures. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. 2023-03 2023-03-22 /pmc/articles/PMC10030174/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aohep.2023.100937 Text en Copyright © 2023 Published by Elsevier España, S.L. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Article
Sotera, Gisela Fabiana
Ferreiro, Melina
Martes, Margarita
Nancy, Cordero
Salmon, Jonathan
Sordá, Juan
Daruich, Jorge
Ballerga, Esteban González
P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
title P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
title_full P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
title_fullStr P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
title_full_unstemmed P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
title_short P- 35 RELINKAGE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
title_sort p- 35 relinkage of patients with chronic hepatitis c infection in the context of the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10030174/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aohep.2023.100937
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