The number of people undiagnosed for chronic hepatitis C remains high in 2014. This is the conclusion of the last Weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH)of the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS). In 2014, the number of people aged 18-80 undiagnosed for chronic hepatitis C was estimated at 74,102 among the affected population. While the number of cases ignored remains high, it is lower than in 2004, when it reached 100,868.
Men aged 18 to 59 represent half of those not diagnosed in 2014. People born between 1924 and 1944 account for 74.1% of the panel, against 21.9% of people born between 1945 and 1965.
According to the BEH authors, these figures confirm the value of simultaneous screening for hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C and HIV in men aged 18 to 60 “at least once in life, regardless of the presence of risk exposures. ” But this targeted screening must be part of a global strategy […], which involves strengthening the [repérage] target [notamment via les outils de diagnostic rapides, les Trod], but also “community screening outside the walls for people with difficult access”, insists the BEH.
Major therapeutic advances
The authors recall that better screening goes hand in hand with “broad access to a effective treatmentfor all of these people, with a view to possible eradication of hepatitis C in France “.
This national day against these diseases is an opportunity to celebrate the therapeutic advances in the fight against hepatitis C. The French Association for the Study of the Liver (AFEF) stressed yesterday that direct-acting antiviral drugs are now able to cure “more than 95% in less than 3 months”.
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