Screening in the emergency department and expansion of the target population in the plans are key in hepatitis

Santander (EFE).- Improving the approach and diagnosis of hepatitis C brings Spain closer to the goals set by WHO, with the objective of further advancing in early detection and, to this end, screening in emergency services and increasing the target groups of eradication plans, focusing them on vulnerable populations but expanding the population group they target.

Joaquín Cabezas, assistant physician in the digestive service of the Valdecilla Hospital and member of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver, explains on the occasion of World Disease Day tomorrow, July 28, that the hepatitis C virus is very easily diagnosed with a blood sample that can be taken in any health facility.

“With one blood sample you will know if you have an active infection,” the hepatologist emphasizes.

And he notes that the next step will be to bring the patient in for a consultation and a full assessment “with treatment commencing on the same day.”

Emergency screening

The specialist stresses that “optimisation” of the care of people infected with the hepatitis C virus has brought it “very close to achieving the WHO elimination goals”.

One population that is “technically easy to reach” for early detection is people visiting emergency departments.

“There is already experience like this: in Cantabria we have a pilot project that we hope will be resumed soon,” he adds, before pointing out that similar screening initiatives in the emergency department are also being promoted at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona or Andalusia.

Another pivotal point to access this exception in the hospital context would be to diagnose people who are about to undergo a surgical or diagnostic procedure in which the test will be performed.

silent disease

Cabezas believes the goal should be for anyone between the ages of 40 and 70 to be tested at some point by health services to determine if they have the virus, whether in the emergency room, for surgery or for hospitalization, “or in a clinic, without going any further.”

Hepatitis is a disease that does not cause symptoms until severe liver damage occurs, which can lead to liver cancer or cirrhosis.

That is why it is so important to detect the disease at an early stage and make a diagnosis. PCR methods are also used for rapid diagnostics of hepatitis C.

“If we don’t diagnose it early, the person will be at risk of liver cancer or complications,” says Cabezas, who therefore advocates for screening programs, “or at least for people who are “recognized as having a risk factor, the test is done.”

The “paradigm shift” for this expert came in 2014, when patients with hepatitis C began to be treated with oral medications.

With this treatment, which at the time caused social debate in Spain because of its high cost, “in 8 or 12 weeks, more than 95% of people who take the medicine well are cured.” “The patient is cured, the patient is cured,” says Cabezas.

Another important milestone was the development of a national strategy to combat hepatitis C, and in communities such as Cantabria and Galicia, a treatment plan was implemented to eliminate the disease.