Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 28, 2025
A Protocol for Analyzing Hepatitis C Virus Replication
Published on: June 26, 2014
Micro-elimination of hepatitis C virus
Clémence Hollande1, Lucia Parlati1, Stanislas Pol1
1Département d'Hépatologie, Université Paris Centre, Hôpital Cochin, APHP, INSERM U1223, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Insights
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030 requires better screening and treatment access, especially for high-risk groups. New diagnostic tools and accessible healthcare are crucial for achieving micro-elimination globally.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) impacts 71 million globally, causing significant morbidity and mortality.
- Transmission routes include healthcare, unscreened blood transfusions, and drug use.
- HCV is a systemic disease with both hepatic and extrahepatic complications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline strategies for global Hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030.
- To identify challenges in micro-elimination within high-risk populations.
- To propose necessary advancements for achieving HCV eradication.
Main Methods:
- The study reviews existing HCV elimination goals and strategies.
- It highlights the need for enhanced screening, treatment access, and prevention methods.
- It emphasizes the development of new tools for micro-elimination in specific demographics.
Main Results:
- HCV elimination by 2030 hinges on improved outreach screening, treatment accessibility, and prevention.
- Micro-elimination in high-risk groups (migrants, prisoners, drug users, etc.) remains unachieved.
- Novel approaches like rapid diagnostics and decentralized care are essential for progress.
Conclusions:
- Achieving global HCV elimination is feasible but challenging in high-prevalence regions.
- Urgent needs include improved detection via rapid tests, decentralized care, and oral antiviral access.
- These advancements are critical for curing chronic infections and reversing HCV-related manifestations.
Background & Aims:
HCV affects about 71 million people worldwide with 1.75 million new infections a year, mainly associated with healthcare, blood transfusion before screening of donors and drug use. Hepatitis C is a systemic disease with hepatic and extrahepatic manifestations resulting in increased morbidity and mortality in HCV-infected patients compared to cured or uninfected individuals.
Results:
The goal of eliminating hepatitis C by 2030 is based on the following three main actions: strengthening and increasing outreach screening; increasing access to treatment; and improving prevention. Although the tools and the targets of HCV elimination have now been well established, micro-elimination, a cure in high-risk populations, is possible, but has not been achieved. These populations are mainly migrants, prisoners, drug users, HIV co-infected patients and psychiatric patients. New tools must be developed to achieve micro-elimination, in particular, rapid diagnostic orientation tests for better screening, delocalization of healthcare services to improve access to care, and training physicians to raise awareness of the disease, increase understanding of its pathogenesis and provide information on the availability of safe and effective treatment to cure chronic infection and reverse hepatic and extrahepatic manifestations.
Conclusion:
Thus, while the goal of complete elimination of hepatitis C virus was feasible in Western countries, it was more difficult in high-prevalence countries where improvement in the detection of chronic infection (with rapid serological and virological diagnostic tests), outsourcing of diagnostic and therapeutic care and access to direct oral antivirals are urgently needed.
