2025 Volume 74 Issue 2 Pages 362-368
The aim of this study was to investigate the current status and effectiveness of patient identification for undiagnosed hepatitis C in medical institutions through a multicenter questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was performed at nine institutions approved by the Kyushu Immuno-Serum Study group. A total of 10,194 hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody tests were performed. Of these, 248 (2.4%) were HCV antibody positive, and 9,946 (97.6%) were HCV antibody negative. After HCV antibody positivity, HCV-RNA was measured in 77 cases (31.0%). Of these, 16 (6.5%) were HCV-RNA positive, while 61 (24.6%) did not have HCV-RNA measured. In 171 cases (69.0%), HCV-RNA was not measured. Among those not measured, 109 (44.0%) had a history of HCV infection, and 56 (22.5%) were undiagnosed. The methods for undiagnosed hepatitis C pick-up included: two hospitals creating a list of HCV antibody-positive patients only, one hospital notifying the attending physician of a positive result by email only, two hospitals using an alert system in the electronic medical record only, and two hospitals implementing a combination of all three methods. The proportion of undiagnosed hepatitis C patients was significantly lower in hospitals using a combination of all three methods than in hospitals using only one method. The pick-up of undiagnosed hepatitis C in healthcare institutions is crucial, and we hope that the efficiency of pick-up will guide hepatitis C patients toward appropriate treatment.
