way to go Elimination of hepatitis C in Spain, One of the bets of experts and some boroughs is crowd screening. It is estimated that nearly 30% of people with HCV infection are undiagnosed, a situation that poses a barrier to achieving eradication of the disease.from Ministry of Health Screening of high-risk groups has been performed, but this screening has been found to be insufficient, as it turns out that a large proportion of patients do not meet the following criteria: filter.
Therefore, experts opt to perform diagnostic tests on the general population. The main problem is that these types of screenings are particularly expensive, which overshadows their benefits. Against this background, Galicia Chose the groundbreaking rehearsal method Samples are pooled to diagnose hepatitis C. This technique is called collectionhas been used in Covid-19 cases and has shown its value in making large-scale testing feasible.
In 2021, a study was published in the journal Lancet and Research by Spanish microbiologists Federico García of the University Hospital of Granada and Antonio Aguilera of the University Complex of Santiago recommends the use of this technique because of the possibility of Our country conducts this technology and gets cheaper population screening.
The system has conducted 31,000 tests in five months and detected 38 cases
Currently, apart from the data collected by the Ministry, only Galicia, Andalusia and Cantabria They are doing population screening by age. Xunta launched this diagnostic a few months ago with automated “pooling” technology, which is a world leader. The system has carried out 31,000 tests and detected 38 cases in five months, in the words of the Director General of Public Health of the Ministry of Health, Carmen Duran Means that “professionals have a high level of follow-up to the program, and Its performance is consistent with the bibliography”.
In a press release, Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (AEHVE) welcomed the move, saying it “shows the way for the whole of Spain”. “Skepticism about opportunistic screening by age must be discarded because sample grouping assumes Cost reductions make them more efficient and feasible diagnostic work”, said AEHVE Coordinator and Director of the Department of Liver Diseases at the University Hospital of La Paz, Javier García-Samanigo.
The pilot program is expected to be established in Galicia in 2024 and is expected to reach other Spanish communities in the next two years. For AEHVE experts, opportunistic screening by age is “one of the two pillars of a global strategy to accelerate the elimination of this condition in our country”. The second stage is micro-elimination of the most vulnerable groups and those who do not typically attend the health system. In the words of the World Health Organization, these approaches could make our country “the first to end this public health problem.” Dr. Juan Turns, Director of the Digestive Department at the University General Hospital of Pontevedra (CHOP).