Research Article
New Tools in HCV Diagnosis, in Light of the Enhanced Awareness and the New Drugs for Treatment: SMARTube and Stimmunology
Table 1
Prevalence of HCV antibody positive individuals detected using regular plasma.
| Risk of HCV transmission | Population/cohort studied | Country | Total samples tested | Serology positive** | HCV prevalence rate |
| Suspected HCV infection | Timisoara hospital patients, with suspected HCV infection [114]* | Romania | 143 | 27 | 18.90% | Testing of individuals, 1–3 weeks after reported suspected exposure to HCV | Romania | 40 | 7 | 17.5% | Hacettepe University Hospital patients with suspected HCV infection | Turkey | 500 | 22 | 4.4% |
| Populations with high risk of HCV transmission | Seronegative individuals with very high risk of HCV transmission | Israel | 67 | 4 | 5.97% | Intravenous drug users, (Sichuan Province) | China | 653 | 389 | 59.57% | Discordant (HIV) couples—patients of Moscow AIDS Center [109]* | Russia | 24 | 6 | 25% | Patients of Budapest AIDS center [115]* | Hungary | 206 | 25 | 12.13% |
| General populations with low risk behavior and unknown HCV prevalence | Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, unknown prevalence of HCV in population | Israel | 238 | 3 | 1.26% | Unknown prevalence of HCV in population (Hebei Province), infection due to bad medical practices in the past | China | 583 | 139 | 23.84% | Kogalym hospital patients and medical staff, population with mixed risk level | Russia | 330 | 7 | 2.12% | Replacement blood donors in Kenyatta blood bank, unknown prevalence | Kenya | 294 | 8 | 2.72% |
| Low risk populations | Healthy blood donors (Tel Aviv) | Israel | 625 | 0 | 0 | Healthy blood donors (Beijing) | China | 1552 | 4 | 0.26% | Healthy blood donors (Bucharest) | Romania | 608 | 0 | 0 | Healthy blood donors (Moscow) | Russia | 25 | 0 | 0 |
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*Data was presented at a local conference.
**HCV seropositives, confirmed by local algorithms.
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