Should Hepatitis C Virus Antibody Be Used for Screening Purposes?

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA results were retrospectively investigated in patients with reactive HCV antibodies. Materials and Methods: HCV antibody test was performed ELISA method. Enzyme linked fluorescence assay was used as a different method. The quantitative HCV RNA test was carried out by AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HCV test. Results: HCV antibody reactivity was detected in 358 of 28081 samples, 255 samples collected from 358 anti-HCV positive-patients and were tested for HCV RNA were included in the study. The detected HCV RNA positivity rate was 5.8% in patients who had low titer reactive HCV antibody and 76.3% in patients, who had high titer reactive HCV antibody. Nine of 23980 samples, which were screened for preoperative preparation, had reactive HCV RNA. One hundred thirty seven of 4101 samples, which were obtained for diagnostic purposes in the gastroenterology and infectious diseases clinics, were HCV RNA positive. Conclusion: Positive results should be confirmed with HCV RNA testing; if possible, testing for HCV antibodies with other methods, before HCV RNA testing, will decrease the number of tests using molecular methods; and screening for HCV antibodies is not cost-effective especially in populations with a low prevalence of HCV antibody positivity.