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Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Community-based screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a collaborative referral model between a primary clinic (Liouguei District Public Health Center, LDPHC) and a tertiary referral center to increase HCV screening and treatment uptake in a mo...

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Autores principales: Tai, Chi-Ming, Bair, Ming-Jong, Chen, Tzu-Haw, Tseng, Cheng-Hao, Chen, Chih-Cheng, Lam, Hung, Yu, Ming-Lung
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10142212/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37112808
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v15040827
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author Tai, Chi-Ming
Bair, Ming-Jong
Chen, Tzu-Haw
Tseng, Cheng-Hao
Chen, Chih-Cheng
Lam, Hung
Yu, Ming-Lung
author_facet Tai, Chi-Ming
Bair, Ming-Jong
Chen, Tzu-Haw
Tseng, Cheng-Hao
Chen, Chih-Cheng
Lam, Hung
Yu, Ming-Lung
author_sort Tai, Chi-Ming
collection PubMed
description Community-based screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a collaborative referral model between a primary clinic (Liouguei District Public Health Center, LDPHC) and a tertiary referral center to increase HCV screening and treatment uptake in a mountainous region of Taiwan. Once-in-a-lifetime hepatitis B and C screening services established by the Taiwan National Health Insurance were performed at LDPHC. Antibody-to-HCV (anti-HCV)-seropositive patients received scheduled referrals and took a shuttle bus to E-Da hospital for HCV RNA testing on their first visit. Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) were prescribed for HCV-viremic patients on their second visit. From October 2020 to September 2022, of 3835 residents eligible for HCV screening in Liouguei District, 1879 (49%) received anti-HCV testing at LDPHC. The overall HCV screening coverage rate increased from 40% before referral to 69.4% after referral. Of the 79 anti-HCV-seropositive patients, 70 (88.6%) were successfully referred. Of the 38 HCV-viremic patients, 35 (92.1%) received DAA therapy, and 32 (91.4%) achieved sustained virological response. The collaborative referral model demonstrates a good model for HCV screening and access to care and treatment in a Taiwan mountainous region, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustained referral is possible using this routine referral model.
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spelling pubmed-101422122023-04-29 Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic Tai, Chi-Ming Bair, Ming-Jong Chen, Tzu-Haw Tseng, Cheng-Hao Chen, Chih-Cheng Lam, Hung Yu, Ming-Lung Viruses Article Community-based screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a collaborative referral model between a primary clinic (Liouguei District Public Health Center, LDPHC) and a tertiary referral center to increase HCV screening and treatment uptake in a mountainous region of Taiwan. Once-in-a-lifetime hepatitis B and C screening services established by the Taiwan National Health Insurance were performed at LDPHC. Antibody-to-HCV (anti-HCV)-seropositive patients received scheduled referrals and took a shuttle bus to E-Da hospital for HCV RNA testing on their first visit. Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) were prescribed for HCV-viremic patients on their second visit. From October 2020 to September 2022, of 3835 residents eligible for HCV screening in Liouguei District, 1879 (49%) received anti-HCV testing at LDPHC. The overall HCV screening coverage rate increased from 40% before referral to 69.4% after referral. Of the 79 anti-HCV-seropositive patients, 70 (88.6%) were successfully referred. Of the 38 HCV-viremic patients, 35 (92.1%) received DAA therapy, and 32 (91.4%) achieved sustained virological response. The collaborative referral model demonstrates a good model for HCV screening and access to care and treatment in a Taiwan mountainous region, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustained referral is possible using this routine referral model. MDPI 2023-03-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10142212/ /pubmed/37112808 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v15040827 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Tai, Chi-Ming
Bair, Ming-Jong
Chen, Tzu-Haw
Tseng, Cheng-Hao
Chen, Chih-Cheng
Lam, Hung
Yu, Ming-Lung
Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Collaborative Referral Model for Hepatitis C Screening and Treatment in a Remote Mountainous Region of Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort collaborative referral model for hepatitis c screening and treatment in a remote mountainous region of taiwan during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10142212/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37112808
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v15040827
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