Importance of hepatitis c screening in high risk populations such as injection drug users, family contacts, surgical and chronic kidney disease patients in india

Aim: The aim of the present review was to understand the importance of hepatitis C screening in high risk populations such as injection drug users, family contacts, surgical and chronic kidney disease patients from a public health perspective.
Methods: A literature search was performed using electronic databases like Pubmed/Medline to identify relevant articles from 1994 to 2016. The search yielded around 32 original studies and review articles from which relevant data was extracted.
Results: Findings from studies suggest transmission of HCV infection among spouses ranges from 24%-46%, which may be attributed to age and duration of marriage playing a fundamental role in transmission. In addition to family contact and sexual behavior, shared use of personal items such as razor blades, toothbrushes, nail clippers and manicure cutters contribute to 33.3%-88.8% intra-familial transmission. Additionally, patients reporting to surgical departments prior to any surgical intervention reported HCV seropositivity ranging from 0.28%-63.2% indicating a need to screen such patients. Renal impairment patients on hemodialysis, or chronic kidney disease patients are also at a higher risk of HCV infection and need to be screened appropriately.
Conclusion: Given the overall burden of HCV infection on the healthcare system, there is a critical need to identify and screen high risk population with linkage to care and access to treatment which has the potential to substantially reduce the transmission of HCV and its associated morbidity and mortality.