Identifying and Linking to Care and Treatment Persons With Hepatitis C Who Were Lost to Follow-Up, Georgia 2023-2024.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 2026, v. 33, no. 2: Identifying and Linking to Care and Treatment Persons With Hepatitis C Who Were Lost to Follow-Up, Georgia 2023-2024.
• Journal Article:
  Journal of Viral Hepatitis
• Personal Author:
  Getia, Vladimer ; Imnadze, Paata ; Adamia, Eka ; Tsereteli, Maia ; Alkhazashvili, Maia ; Surguladze, Sophia ; Schumacher, Irina Tskhomelidze ; Glass, Nancy ; Shadaker, Shaun ; Tohme, Rania A.
• Description:
  In 2015, Georgia launched a hepatitis C elimination programme with free screening and treatment. However, a large number of persons were lost to follow up after screening for, or diagnosis with, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. During February 2023-September 2024, we conducted active outreach to reengage persons who were lost to follow-up in care and assess barriers to hepatitis C care and treatment through questionnaires covering pre- and post-outreach perceptions. Among 18,034 persons who tested HCV antibody (anti-HCV) reactive but were not tested for HCV viremia and had valid contact information, 14,252 (79%) could be reached, among whom 64% were unaware of their test result. After outreach, 4593 (32%) completed HCV viremia testing, among whom 2440 (53%) tested positive and 1577 (65%) initiated treatment. Main reasons for not seeking care after active outreach were having another chronic illness (33%) and being unaware they were screened for anti-HCV (23%). Among 13,151 persons diagnosed with HCV infection who did not initiate treatment and had valid contact information, 6982 (53%) were reached, among whom 2267 (33%) initiated treatment. The main reason for not initiating treatment before outreach was lack of information (62%) and after outreach was distrust in the hepatitis C elimination programme (79%). Treatment initiation was more common among those first tested in recent years. Active outreach successfully identified new infections and nearly 40% of those diagnosed initiated treatment. Educating patients about their test results and promptly linking them to care and treatment is essential to achieve hepatitis C elimination.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Male
  • Lost to Follow-Up
  • Adult
  • Hepatitis C
  • Middle Aged
  • Georgia (Republic)
  • Young Adult
  • Adolescent
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Georgia
  • hepatitis C
  • linkage-to-care
  • lost to follow up
  • viral hepatitis
• Source:
  Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 2026, v. 33, no. 2
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.70135
• ISSN:
  1352-0504 ; 1365-2893
• Pubmed ID:
  41532389
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC12877782
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 GH000076/GH/CGH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Pages in Document:
  e70135 (17 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  33
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/260846/cdc_260846_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.02 MB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:17cf22609a8708d5f4a188d5c81f3a7c2a555ebaee4853949ad156b28106403ae9b239a9adb8eb702825d130971acf497e01c67a1b46d066d6ea80aa9cf21a0c