Nontargeted Screening Superior To Targeted Screening In Identifying New HCV Infections In EDs, Study Finds

Healio (7/10, Forand) reports a study found that “nontargeted screening for hepatitis C virus infection identified more new diagnoses than targeted screening among nearly 150,000 patients in three urban EDs.” For the study, researchers “used current CDC and USPSTF recommendations for targeted screening, which now also include individuals who use intranasal drugs, who received tattoos or piercings in unregulated settings or who received blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992.” In the nontargeted group, “findings showed 4.2% had antibody-positive test results and 1.6% had confirmed new HCV diagnoses.” Meanwhile, the targeted group saw “7.5% antibody-positive test results and 2.5% confirmed new HCV diagnoses.” Overall, researchers said they “identified nearly 300 new diagnoses and demonstrated that nontargeted screening – the non-risk-based approach – was superior to targeted screening for the identification of new hepatitis C diagnoses.” The study was published in JAMA.