Journal of clinical microbiology
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Jun 2012
Is hepatitis C virus core antigen an adequate marker for community screening?
A new hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen (HCV Ag) assay was thought to have a good correlation with HCV RNA. The aim was to elucidate the usefulness of this HCV Ag assay in community screening. In a township where HCV is endemic, 405 residents aged 58 years or older responded to a follow-up community screening. ⋯ As determined using a combination of the values for anti-HCV (S/CO > 40) and HCV Ag (>3 fmol/liter) as a cutoff to predict viremia, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 96.8%, 100%, 99.3%, 100%, and 99%, respectively. In conclusion, for a community study, HCV Ag showed good correlation with HCV RNA. In addition, anti-HCV or HCV Ag can predict HCV viremia well, while a combination of anti-HCV (>40 S/CO) and HCV Ag (>3 fmol/liter) can provide the best result validity.