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A large-scale screening of hepatitis C among men who have sex with men in the community using saliva point-of-care testing Albertos, Sonia Major Roca, Xavier esteban, rafael Colom Farran, Joan Buti Ferret, Maria Institut Català de la Salut [Albertos S] Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Hospital Residencia Sant Camil, Consorci Sanitari de l’Alt Penedès i Garraf (CSAPG), Barcelona, Spain. [Majo FX, Colom J] Catalunya Healthcare System, Generalitat de Catalunya, Prevenció, Control i Atenció al VIH, les ITS i les Hepatitis Víriques, Barcelona, Spain. [Esteban R] Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Quiron, Barcelona, Spain. [Buti M] Unitat d’Hepatologia, Servei de Medicina Interna, Vall d’Hebron Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus Homosexualitat masculina Hepatitis C - Diagnòstic Cribatge (Medicina) Saliva DISEASES::Digestive System Diseases::Liver Diseases::Hepatitis::Hepatitis, Viral, Human::Hepatitis C Other subheadings::Other subheadings::/diagnosis ANALYTICAL, DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES, AND EQUIPMENT::Diagnosis::Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures::Mass Screening PUBLIC HEALTH::Health Care (Public Health)::Health of Specific Groups::Sexual and Reproductive Health::Sexual Health::Sexuality::Homosexuality::Homosexuality, Male ANATOMY::Fluids and Secretions::Bodily Secretions::Saliva ENFERMEDADES::enfermedades del sistema digestivo::enfermedades hepáticas::hepatitis::hepatitis viral humana::hepatitis C Otros calificadores::Otros calificadores::/diagnóstico TÉCNICAS Y EQUIPOS ANALÍTICOS, DIAGNÓSTICOS Y TERAPÉUTICOS::diagnóstico::técnicas y procedimientos diagnósticos::cribado sistemático SALUD PÚBLICA::atención a la salud (salud pública)::salud de grupos específicos::salud sexual y reproductiva::salud sexual::sexualidad::homosexualidad::homosexualidad masculina ANATOMÍA::líquidos y secreciones::secreciones corporales::saliva Hepatitis C virus; Men who have sex with men; Screening Virus de la hepatitis C; Hombres que tienen sexo con hombres; Cribado Virus de l'hepatitis C; Homes que tenen sexe amb homes; Cribatge Aim: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of massive hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing in point of care on the street using quick tests, determine the characteristics of the population included, and the prevalence of HCV infection in this population. Methods: Cross-sectional community-based study including adult men who have sex with men (MSM) who attended the three most important LGTB+ events in Sitges (Catalonia, Spain) in 2022. Points of care were set up on tents on the street and attendees were offered voluntary anti-HCV antibody self-testing. Participants were informed of the study, provided consent, completed the test for identification of risk practices (TIRP), and took the test with the OraQuick® HCV test on a saliva sample (sensitivity: 97.8% [95% confidence interval (CI), 93.2-99.4%] and specificity: 100% [95% CI, 98.4-100%]; gold standard: IgG antibody test for HCV by immunoassay [serum]); participants with positive results were offered HCV virus testing with the Xpert HCV Fingerstick® on a blood drop. Results: A total of 1249 adults participated in the large-scale screening, of which 1197 (95.8%) were identified as MSM. The screening time was 39 participants/h. Four (0.32%) participants had positive anti-HCV results, all with undetectable HCV RNA levels. Participants' median (IQR) age was 44 (35, 54) years; most were Europeans, and 13% reported being unaware of their serological HCV status. The mean (SD) TIRP score was 1.40 (1.44) (n = 1062), with 67.41% reporting some risk, and the self-perceived sexually transmitted disease score was 3.0 (2.82) (n = 969). Conclusion: The point-of-care strategy on the street using a quick oral self-test at massive MSM events is feasible, well-accepted, and quick, and may be a useful strategy to reach other populations at risk of HCV infection. T he author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This project is funded by GILEAD through a competitive research Scholarship in 2021 evaluated by the evaluation committee of the Spanish association for the study of the liver, confidentially and independent, and through a publication support. The study sponsor and funders have no role in study design; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; author selection; writing of the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication. 2025-02-03T11:41:30Z 2025-02-03T11:41:30Z 2024-12-09 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Albertos S, Majo FX, Esteban R, Colom J, Buti M. A large-scale screening of hepatitis C among men who have sex with men in the community using saliva point-of-care testing. Front Public Heal. 2024 Dec 9;12:1478195. 2296-2565 https://hdl.handle.net/11351/12519 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1478195 39717035 001381496900001 http://hdl.handle.net/11351/12519 eng Frontiers in Public Health;12 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1478195 Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess application/pdf Frontiers Media Scientia