title: Diagnosis of acute hepatitis C: anti-HCV or HCV-RNA?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In theory, the optimal method for diagnosing acute hepatitis C is nucleotide amplification. This is because of the significant delay in the emergence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies. We studied whether the use of HCV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening for acute HCV infection in a clinical setting would identify otherwise undetected cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients clinically suspected of having acute viral hepatitis were tested over a 32-month period (n = 2023).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-four patients were found HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) positive. Of these, 13 were suffering from an acute infection and 12 of these 13 patients were concomitantly anti-HCV (and HCV-RNA) positive at the time of diagnosis. One patient was HCV-RNA positive and anti-HCV negative. This symptom-free patient was tested because of known exposure to HCV 2 weeks previously.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anti-HCV is reliable in screening for acute hepatitis C. In cases of known/possible HCV exposure, we find that HCV PCR is the diagnostic of choice.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medicine and Gastroenterology, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark. u30792@aas.nja.dk
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Krarup
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007159:Immunologic Tests; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies