Nationwide hepatitis C virus screening and treatment of adolescents in Egyptian schools

Until 2018, Egypt had the highest prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection globally, affecting approximately 7% of the population. Despite efforts in diagnosis and treatment since 2006, nearly 2 million individuals with chronic HCV infection had yet to be diagnosed as of early 2018. In Decemb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The lancet. Gastroenterology & hepatology Vol. 7; no. 7; p. 658
Main Authors:	Kamal, Ehab, Asem, Noha, Hassany, Mohamed, Elshishiney, Galal, Abdel-Razek, Wael, Said, Heba, Abdel Hamid, Sohair, Essam, Tamer, Rehan, Ahmed, Salah, Aysam, Saad, Tarek, Shawky, Nasr, Mostafa, Abdalla, Omar, Yasser, Ammar, Islam, Saeed, Ramy, AbdAllah, Mohamed, Jabbour, Jean, Hashish, Alaa, Bastawy, Samah, El Qareh, Noha, Gamaleldin, Nahla, Kabil, Khaled, Doss, Wahid, El-Sayed, Manal H, Zaid, Hala
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Netherlands 01-07-2022
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use Egypt - epidemiology Genotype Hepacivirus - genetics Hepatitis C, Chronic - diagnosis Hepatitis C, Chronic - drug therapy Hepatitis C, Chronic - epidemiology Humans Mass Screening Schools Seroepidemiologic Studies Egypt
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Summary:	Until 2018, Egypt had the highest prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection globally, affecting approximately 7% of the population. Despite efforts in diagnosis and treatment since 2006, nearly 2 million individuals with chronic HCV infection had yet to be diagnosed as of early 2018. In December, 2018, a mass HCV screening campaign for adolescents aged 15-18 years was initiated. Among 3 024 325 adolescents screened, the HCV antibody seroprevalence was 11 477 (0·38%), of whom 8187 (78·7%) were HCV RNA-positive. Sustained virological response 12 weeks after completion of treatment (SVR12) was attained by 7327 (99·6%) adolescents with a fixed-dose combination of generic ledipasvir 90 mg plus sofosbuvir 400 mg. Although mass screening in this age group might not be regularly adopted by many health systems and its cost-effectiveness might be lower than the screening of adults and high-risk groups (eg, patients on haemodialysis, people who inject drugs), breaking the chain of transmission in younger populations should lead to a reduction in HCV incidence and complications, and hasten the elimination of the disease.
ISSN:	2468-1253
DOI:	10.1016/S2468-1253(21)00464-7