z-logo
Premium
A review of general hepatitis C virus lookbacks in Canada
Author(s) -
Bowker S. L.,
Smith L. J.,
Rosychuk R. J.,
Preiksaitis J. K.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.0042-9007.2004.00380.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis c virus , population , medline , hepatitis c , pediatrics , virus , virology , environmental health , biology , biochemistry
Background and Objectives  This article reviews the Canadian experience with general hepatitis C virus (HCV) lookback programmes. Materials and Methods  Comprehensive literature searches were conducted in PubMed, Medline, HealthSTAR and EMBASE. In addition, bibliographic searches were performed on all retrieved articles, and provinces were contacted to determine whether they had performed general HCV lookbacks. Results  Of the seven Canadian general HCV lookbacks identified, two focused specifically on the paediatric population. The proportion of transfused patients presumed to be alive varied from 48·9 to 97·5%. Between 55·3 and 99·1% of letters were successfully delivered. The proportion of patients tested for HCV and subsequently found to be HCV positive varied considerably (66·2–80·4% and 0·9–5·0%, respectively). Newly diagnosed patients represented 42–58% of cases identified. Conclusions  The Canadian general HCV lookback experience successfully identified previously undiagnosed HCV‐positive patients, but the resources required to notify patients are high and the yield is relatively low. The effectiveness may be greatest in the paediatric population.

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here