Covid responsible for decrease in Hepatitis C testing: Study

New York, Dec 7 : Researchers have found that Covid-19 pandemic has led to a decrease in hospital-wide Hepatitis C (HCV) testing by 50 per cent, and a reduction in new HCV diagnoses by more than 60 per cent.
The study, published in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health, highlights the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on hospital-wide and ambulatory HCV testing, and the ramifications of this decrease in identification of the virus.
“The large decrease in HCV screening demonstrates the tradeoffs that occurred between maintaining safety and delivering preventive care services as a result of the health system responses during this pandemic,” said study author Heather Sperring from the Boston Medical Centre in the US.
The data for this analysis was collected prospectively from December 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Using descriptive statistics, the analysis was completed by comparing unique patient tests for 3.5-month periods before and after March 16, 2020, analysing total tests and total new HCV RNA positive results before and after, and mean daily tests.
Effective March 16, the team implemented the utilisation of tele-medicine for outpatient clinics wherever possible, preventive care, including phlebotomy for HCV screening, was not performed during this time.