ArticleThe Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy2019
HepCare Europe: a service innovation project. HepCheck: enhancing HCV identification and linkage to care for vulnerable populations through intensified outreach screening. A prospective multisite feasibility study.
Article in The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lessons learned from viral hepatitis testing that inform law and policy responses to steatotic liver disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Improving access to healthcare services for people experiencing homelessness: evidence from a scoping review of interventions.Health & justice · 2025Review
- Review
- Prevalence of Hepatitis C in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy: Population-Wide Screening.Viruses · 2025Article
- The Key Importance of Screening Underprivileged People in Order to Achieve Global Hepatitis Virus Elimination Targets.Viruses · 2025Review
- Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Europe.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The Efficiency of Increased HCV Testing and Treatment Strategies in Spain to Achieve Elimination Goals.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2024Article
- Combining treatment for chronic hepatitis C with opioid agonist therapy is an effective microelimination strategy for people who inject drugs with high risk of non-adherence to direct-acting antiviral therapy.Journal of virus eradication · 2023Article
- Hepatitis C: Problems to extinction and residual hepatic and extrahepatic lesions after sustained virological response.World journal of hepatology · 2022Review
- A hepatitis C elimination model in healthcare for the homeless organization: A novel reflexive laboratory algorithm and equity assessment.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
- A Feasibility Study to Increase Chronic Hepatitis C Virus RNA Testing and Linkage to Care among Clients Attending Homeless Services in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- New hepatitis C virus infection, re-infection and associated risk behaviour in male Irish prisoners: a cohort study, 2019.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021Article
- Identification and treatment of viral hepatitis C in persons who use drugs: a prospective, multicenter outreach study in Flanders, Belgium.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- HepCare Ireland-a service innovation project.Irish journal of medical science · 2021Review
- Article
- HepCare Europe: a new user-friendly hepatitis C care service model. What have we learned? What are the remaining challenges?The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesHepatitis C is one of the main causes of chronic liver diseases worldwide. One of the major barriers to effecting EU- and WHO-mandated HCV elimination by 2030 is underdiagnosis. Community-based screening strategies have been identified as important components of HCV models of care. HepCheck Europe is a large-scale intensified screening initiative aimed at enhancing identification of HCV infection among vulnerable populations and linkage to care.
methodsResearch teams across four European countries were engaged in the study and rolled out screening to high-risk populations in community addiction, homeless and prison services. Screening was offered to 2822 individuals and included a self-administered questionnaire, HCV antibody and RNA testing, liver fibrosis assessment and referral to specialist services.
resultsThere was a 74% (n=2079) uptake of screening. The majority (85.8%, n=1783) were male. In total 44.6% (n=927) of the sample reported ever injecting drugs, 38.4% (n=799) reported ever being homeless and 27.9% (n=581) were prisoners. In total 397 (19%) active HCV infections were identified and 136 (7% of total sample and 34% of identified active infections) were new cases. Of those identified with active HCV infection, 80% were linked to care, which included liver fibrosis assessment and referral to specialist services.
conclusionsHepCheck's screening and linkage to care is a clear strategy for reaching high-risk populations, including those at highest risk of transmission who are not accessing any type of care in the community. Elimination of HCV in the EU will only be achieved by such innovative, patient-centred approaches.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.