eb9ca7892f9de0129491e24f8971eece viruses-18-00928.pdf 3fe271e1869ba338407ea37b07510d10162013d4 viruses-18-00928.pdf 5e81166dfd5fc32e184d4dc1bb38ec74ffcb51b0f1ae3c3ee58774a4f7378d6a viruses-18-00928.pdf Title: Emergency Department-Based Screening and Linkage-to-Care for Hepatitis B, C, and D in a Referral Hospital in Barcelona, Spain: Reduction in Hepatitis C Prevalence After Five Years Subject: Background: Emergency Department (ED) viral hepatitis screening programs typically report short-term outcomes. We evaluated the medium-term impact of an ED-based screening for Hepatitis C (HCV), Hepatitis B (HBV), and Hepatitis D (HDV) viruses. Methods: Prospective opportunistic screening conducted between January 2020 and December 2024 at a referral hospital in Barcelona. Adults attending the ED were screened for HBV, HCV, and HDV. Positive cases were evaluated and linked to care when appropriate. To assess screening impact, HCV RNA and HBsAg prevalences were compared between 2020–2021 and 2023–2024 among participants aged 80 years. Results: Over five years, 39,532 individuals were screened: 220 (0.56%) had detectable HCV RNA, 234 (0.59%) HBsAg, and 4 HDV RNA. Of 110 patients with detectable HCV RNA eligible for linkage, 84 (76%) were treated and cured. Among 135 HBV-positive individuals eligible for linkage, 116 (86%) attended outpatient follow-up. HCV RNA prevalence significantly decreased (0.58% vs. 0.35%, p = 0.005), whereas HBsAg prevalence did not vary (0.7% vs. 0.58%, p = 0.224). Conclusions: Sustained ED-based screening enabled the identification and linkage to care of several individuals with HBV and HCV. This strategy contributed to a reduction in HCV prevalence among ED attendees and supports opportunistic ED screening in viral hepatitis elimination goals. Keywords: emergency department; hepatitis B; hepatitis C; hepatitis D; screening; viral hepatitis Author: Juan Carlos Ruiz-Cobo, Jordi Llaneras, Ariadna Rando-Segura, Ana Barreira-Díaz, Francisco Rodríguez-Frías, Judit Romero-Vico, Albert Blanco-Grau, Adriana Palom, Elena Vargas-Accarino, Roser Ferrer, Rafael Esteban, Mar Riveiro-Barciela and María Buti Creator: LaTeX with hyperref Producer: pdfTeX-1.40.25; modified using OpenPDF 1.4.2 CreationDate: Mon Aug 24 06:32:45 2026 CEST ModDate: Mon Aug 24 06:35:42 2026 CEST Custom Metadata: yes Metadata Stream: no Tagged: no UserProperties: no Suspects: no Form: none JavaScript: no Pages: 13 Encrypted: no Page size: 595.276 x 841.89 pts (A4) Page rot: 0 File size: 763729 bytes Optimized: no PDF version: 1.7 name type encoding emb sub uni object ID ------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- --------- OFXUZH+URWPalladioL-Bold Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 122 0 OIWCAJ+VnURWPalladioL Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 123 0 MWQKFW+URWPalladioL-Roma Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 124 0 VDITSV+CMSY10 Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 125 0 QFHBEN+URWPalladioL-Ital Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 126 0 WBVKDJ+URWPalladioL-BoldItal Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 232 0 LBIBCL+PalatinoLinotype,Bold TrueType WinAnsi yes yes no 246 0 LBIBCN+PalatinoLinotype TrueType WinAnsi yes yes no 247 0 LBIBDP+PalatinoLinotype,Italic TrueType WinAnsi yes yes no 283 0 LBIBCN+PalatinoLinotype TrueType WinAnsi yes yes no 284 0 LBIBCL+PalatinoLinotype,Bold TrueType WinAnsi yes yes no 285 0 MPUDFL+PazoMath Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 365 0 Jhove (Rel. 1.28.0, 2023-05-18) Date: 2026-09-02 04:07:30 CEST RepresentationInformation: viruses-18-00928.pdf ReportingModule: PDF-hul, Rel. 1.12.4 (2023-03-16) LastModified: 2026-09-01 16:24:50 CEST Size: 763729 Format: PDF Version: 1.7 Status: Well-Formed and valid SignatureMatches: PDF-hul MIMEtype: application/pdf PDFMetadata: Objects: 432 FreeObjects: 1 IncrementalUpdates: 0 DocumentCatalog: ViewerPreferences: HideToolbar: false HideMenubar: false HideWindowUI: false FitWindow: true CenterWindow: false DisplayDocTitle: false NonFullScreenPageMode: UseNone Direction: L2R ViewArea: CropBox ViewClip: CropBox PrintArea: CropBox PageClip: CropBox PageLayout: SinglePage PageMode: UseNone Outlines: Item: Title: Introduction Item: Title: Materials and Methods Children: Item: Title: Study Design Item: Title: Study Variables Item: Title: Statistical Analysis Item: Title: Ethical Considerations Item: Title: Results Children: Item: Title: HBV, HCV, and HDV Prevalence in the ED Item: Title: Characteristics of Anti-HCV-Positive Patients Item: Title: Characteristics of HCV RNA-Positive Patients Item: Title: Linkage to Care of HCV Patients Item: Title: Characteristics of HBsAg-Positive Patients Item: Title: Linkage to Care of HBsAg-Positive Patients Item: Title: Characteristics and Linkage to Care of Anti-HDV Positive Patients Item: Title: Impact of ED Viral Hepatitis Screening Item: Title: Discussion Item: Title: References Info: Title: Emergency Department-Based Screening and Linkage-to-Care for Hepatitis B, C, and D in a Referral Hospital in Barcelona, Spain: Reduction in Hepatitis C Prevalence After Five Years Author: Juan Carlos Ruiz-Cobo, Jordi Llaneras, Ariadna Rando-Segura, Ana Barreira-Díaz, Francisco Rodríguez-Frías, Judit Romero-Vico, Albert Blanco-Grau, Adriana Palom, Elena Vargas-Accarino, Roser Ferrer, Rafael Esteban, Mar Riveiro-Barciela and María Buti Subject: Background: Emergency Department (ED) viral hepatitis screening programs typically report short-term outcomes. We evaluated the medium-term impact of an ED-based screening for Hepatitis C (HCV), Hepatitis B (HBV), and Hepatitis D (HDV) viruses. Methods: Prospective opportunistic screening conducted between January 2020 and December 2024 at a referral hospital in Barcelona. Adults attending the ED were screened for HBV, HCV, and HDV. Positive cases were evaluated and linked to care when appropriate. To assess screening impact, HCV RNA and HBsAg prevalences were compared between 2020–2021 and 2023–2024 among participants aged 80 years. Results: Over five years, 39,532 individuals were screened: 220 (0.56%) had detectable HCV RNA, 234 (0.59%) HBsAg, and 4 HDV RNA. Of 110 patients with detectable HCV RNA eligible for linkage, 84 (76%) were treated and cured. Among 135 HBV-positive individuals eligible for linkage, 116 (86%) attended outpatient follow-up. HCV RNA prevalence significantly decreased (0.58% vs. 0.35%, p = 0.005), whereas HBsAg prevalence did not vary (0.7% vs. 0.58%, p = 0.224). Conclusions: Sustained ED-based screening enabled the identification and linkage to care of several individuals with HBV and HCV. This strategy contributed to a reduction in HCV prevalence among ED attendees and supports opportunistic ED screening in viral hepatitis elimination goals. 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