Current Screening Strategy Poses Risk of Spreading of Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C virus is one of the significant causes of morbidity and mortality in the World. Surprisingly, despite national screening campaigns, new cases of HCV are still on the rise. Methods: A total of 5914 healthy blood donors was included in this study after informed consent. Anti-HCV ELISA was used to check presence of antigen in participant’s plasma.using Monlisa HCV AntigenAntibody Ultra kit. Final confirmation was done by using real time PCR considered as a gold standard. Results: 0.5% of anti-HCV ELISA negative samples showed presence of antigen in plasma, when checked through core Ag detection method. Conclusion: Our result suggested that HCV core antigen detection and/or combo testing are far safer screening methods for the detection of HCV and the use of these methods can avoid/reduce further spread of this deadly disease.