With an estimated 216,000 individuals chronically infected in the UK (England 161,000, Northern Ireland 4,000, Scotland 39,000, Wales 12,000), hepatitis C (HCV) remains a major public health problem; and HCV-related end stage liver disease and mortality continue to increase¹. The Health Protection Agency states that it is necessary to sustain and enhance efforts to raise awareness, prevent new infections, increase diagnosis, and treat more individuals with infection.¹

Due to the high rate of asymptomatic infections, clinical diagnosis of hepatitis C is difficult and screening assays are of major importance.² The Roche Elecsys anti-HCV II assay provides 100% clinical sensitivity³ for all known genotypes, leading to early detection of infection and patient-oriented decision making. With high specificity in blood donors (99.84%)^4,5 and samples from clinical routine, pregnant women and dialysis patients, use of the Elecsys anti-HCV II 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 Roche 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.

For further information, please telephone 01444 256000 or visit the Roche website at www.roche.co.uk.

References 1. Hepatitis C in the UK 2011. London: Health Protection Agency, Colindale July 2011. 2. Di Bisceglie, A.M. (1997). Hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology, 2 6(3 Suppl 1): 34S-8S. 3. Elecsys Anti-HCV II assay CE evaluation data. Roche 2011 4. Esteban J., van Helden J., Alborino F., Cellerai C., Eiras A., Ghisetti V., Imdahl R., Wetlitzky O., Segovia M., Schennach H., Muehlbacher A. Elecsys Anti-HCV II: a sensitive and specific assay for diagnosing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Hepatology International. 2012. Volume 6. Number 1; PP11-014. 5. Strader, D.B., Wright, T., Thomas, D.L., Seeff, L.B. (2004). Diagnosis, management and treatment of hepatitis C. Hepatology, 39 (4): 1147-71.