ArticleBMC infectious diseases2026
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hepatitis C care across the cascade of care: a scoping review.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hepatitis C care across the cascade of care: a scoping review.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic was associated with widespread health services disruption, including challenges in the management of chronic infectious diseases. However, evidence regarding reported changes in hepatitis C virus (HCV) care during this period remains limited and fragmented. We aimed to map the available evidence on reported changes in HCV care during the COVID-19 pandemic across the HCV cascade of care.
methodWe conducted a scoping review following the Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework. Searches of Medline (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and grey literature identified studies reporting pandemic-related changes in HCV diagnosis, linkage to care, treatment, or cure from; March 2020 to March 2025. Data were extracted on the study setting, stage of the cascade of care, and observed changes in HCV care, and synthesized narratively.
resultsTwenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Eighteen were conducted in Europe and North America. Most studies found declines in HCV care across all stages of the cascade of care: diagnosis (15 of 21 studies), linkage to care (9 of 10), treatment initiation or completion (18 of 27), and cure (6 of 13). Among the included studies, linkage to care was the stage most consistently reported as disrupted.
conclusionEvidence on reported changes in the HCV cascade of care during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited and geographically skewed toward high-income countries. Available data suggest service reductions across all stages, with linkage to care being the stage most frequently reported as disrupted among the studies that assessed it. Strengthening surveillance, ensuring routine monitoring at all stages of the cascade of care, and building resilient HCV services are critical to safeguarding progress toward the 2030 hepatitis elimination goal.
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