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Pandemic Period Tests May Accelerate Hepatitis-C Detection


Dr. “When someone manages to walk through the door for us, it’s a huge success,” Grande said. For many patients, navigating a complex path to treatment can be overwhelming, requiring multiple repeat visits over weeks or months. “It’s just a big hurdle.”

Automated molecular testing can jam this process. The tests replicate any trace of viral genetic material from a small sample of blood or saliva in a process similar to the older laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction (or PCR) method, but has been miniaturized to run on small machines. The technologies have been around for years but gained more visibility during the pandemic when the FDA allowed them. many test developers to circumvent the traditionally long approval process.

Companies developing these types of coronavirus tests have seen tremendous growth. sign healthThe NBA’s official testing provider, which has sold more than 120,000 testing platforms, reported annual revenue to exceed $600 million, up 25 times during the pandemic. The company’s co-founder, Ayub Khattak, said the streamlined editing process was transformative: “He just broke the door.”

A similar molecular test for hepatitis C could allow clinicians to make an immediate diagnosis and perhaps start many patients on medication on the same day, an approach known as “test and treat.” Patients may be less likely to transmit the disease to others later on and may be more likely to complete treatment and recover.

One of the most promising hepatitis C tests was created by Cepheid, a California-based diagnostic company. With a palm-sized cartridge preloaded with chemical reagents, the test runs on the company’s proprietary GeneXpert machine and can confirm the presence of a suspected pathogen in less than an hour. Because of its simplicity and size – the entire unit is the size of a desktop printer – it can be deployed in remote facilities and operated by personnel with minimal medical training.

Research on how a prompt diagnosis affects patients’ treatment for hepatitis C is limited. In a dual-pilot study in which the technology was taken to a syringe exchange and a prison, more than two-thirds of diagnosed patients entered treatment, perhaps double the share of treatment entrants under typical conditions. Both studies received funding from drug manufacturers and in-kind support from Cepheid.

Jason Grebely, one of the researchers leading the study and professor at the Kirby Institute, a medical research organization in Sydney, Australia, said the technology is “probably the next game changer” in the field of hepatitis C treatment. Dr. Grebely has previously received research funding from Cepheid and various pharmaceutical companies.



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