Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by a virus (HCV) that often manifests several years after infection. In the majority of cases, hepatitis C progresses without symptoms for 10 to 15 years. Therefore, its diagnosis is usually made late, when the disease has become chronic and complications have already damaged the liver.
This is why the arrival on the French market, next May, of a rapid diagnostic test (TROD for rapid orientation and diagnostic test) is applauded by patient associations.
A test available in prevention and care centers
Toyo, distributed by the French laboratory Nephrotek, will thus be the first approved TROD with CE marking to be available on the French market.
This rapid test (it gives the answer in 15 minutes) will be available in prevention or association structures, in reception and support centers for the reduction of risks for drug users (CAARUD) and care centers, support and prevention in addictology (CSAPA).
The goal is to lower the prevalence of hepatitis C, which affects 230,000 French people in chronic form, and to reduce the associated complications (cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma), as well as mortality which amounts to more than 2,600 deaths per year.
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Hepatitis C: the HAS defines the place of the different treatments
Hepatitis C: towards treatment for all patients?
