Rapid Test to Detect Hepatitis C Approved

OraQuick HCV can detect viral antibodies in about 20 minutes

FRIDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- The OraQuick HCV Rapid Antibody Test to detect antibodies from the hepatitis C virus has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The blood diagnostic is a test strip that does not require an additional device to obtain results in about 20 minutes, the agency said in a news release.

Advertisement

Related Stories • Survival Rates Better for Certain Heart Transplant Patients • Hepatitis E Vaccine Appears Safe, Effective • Kidneys From Dead Patients as Durable as Ones From Those Deemed Brain-Dead Related Videos Blood Cleaner High Tech Liver Surgery Living Longer With Liver Cancer Related Slides Hepatitis Liver Cirrhosis Liver Transplant Related Encyclopedia • Arteriohepatic Dysplasia • Fatty Liver • Hemochromatosis

HCV is commonly transmitted through shared use of an intravenous drug needle or from an infected mother to her child. Initially it can cause inflammation of the liver and may progress to liver disease or liver cancer.

Some 3.2 million people in the United States are chronically infected with the virus, and some 17,000 new infections are reported each year, government statistics show.

The OraQuick test is produced by OraSure Technologies, based in Bethlehem, Penn.

More information

The FDA has more about this approval.

-- Scott Roberts