Hepatitis C assay
Roche has extended its serology panel to include a new generation Elecsys anti-HCV II, optimising workflows, saving costs and providing accurate, rapid results.
With an estimated 216,000 individuals chronically infected in the UK alone, hepatitis C (HCV) remains a major public health problem, and HCV-related end stage liver disease and mortality continue to increase. It is thus necessary to sustain and enhance efforts to raise awareness, prevent new infections, increase diagnosis, and treat more individuals with infection. Due to the high rate of asymptomatic infections, clinical diagnosis of hepatitis C is difficult and screening assays are of major importance.This new assay can play an effective part in this strategy, as it is used to demonstrate the presence of antibodies against HCV during acute and chronic stages of disease, and after a passed infection. A hundred percent clinical sensitivity is provided for all known genotypes, leading to early detection of infection and patient-oriented decision making. With high specificity as demonstrated in blood donors (99.84%) and samples from clinical routine, pregnant women and dialysis patients, use of this assay increases laboratory testing efficiencies. To optimise workflows and provide operational cost savings, the ready-to-use liquid reagents have a long onboard stability of 31 days on all the company’s immunoassay platforms. The new assay complements the Roche serology assay menu that includes assays for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, TORCH, Herpes, Syphilis and other infectious diseases.
Supplier: Roche Diagnostics Limited
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