Most US Hepatitis C Patients Not Treated Due to Confusing Care Protocols

MOSCOW, January 12 (Sputnik) – About 85 percent of US patients diagnosed with hepatitis C between 2010 and 2013 received inadequate treatment due to a poor understanding of the health care process, US News reported citing a recent medical study.

"Our findings show that many patients are lost at each stage of the health care continuum from screening to disease confirmation to care and treatment," Hepatitis Epidemiology Program Coordinator Kendra Viner of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said as quoted by US News on Sunday.

Viner stressed that recent findings highlight the need to raise awareness of those who are exposed to risk of infection, as well as improving checks within the system and care protocols to make it clearer.

"It is critical that public health officials and clinicians understand why patients are lost at each stage so that changes can be made to improve care," the researcher added.

The study, published in the recent issue of Hepatology journal, says that about 3.2 million people in the US are infected with Hepatitis C, but up to 70 percent of those infected are unaware of their health status for years before the serious consequences of the disease become apparent. The research stresses that there are certain groups of people exposed to a higher risk of infection, including intravenous drug users, blood transfusion recipients, children born to Hepatitis C-infected mothers and people born in the period from 1945 to 1965.