Background: Treatment of HCV with direct-acting antivirals has enabled the discussion of HCV eradication worldwide. Envisioning this aim requires implementation of mass screening in resource-limited areas, usually constrained by testing costs.
Methods: We validated a low-cost, rapid diagnosis test (RDT) for HCV in three different continents in 141 individuals.
Results: The HCV RDT showed 100% specificity and sensitivity across different samples regardless of genotype or viral load (in samples with such information, 90%).
Conclusions: The HCV test validated in this study can allow for HCV screening in areas of need when properly used.
Keywords: hepatitis C; rapid diagnostic test; resource-limited.
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