[The practice guideline 'Viral hepatitis and other liver diseases' (second revision) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners; a response from the perspective of gastroenterology].
The treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B and C is now so effective that the efforts of health care workers should now be concentrated on tracing infected persons and determining antiviral therapies. It is for these reasons in particular that this revision from the Dutch College of General Practitioners' practice guideline 'Viral hepatitis and other liver diseases' is so necessary. It is estimated that there are 46 patients with chronic viral hepatitis in each general practice of 2300 people, and that only 1 in 64 is registered as such. This calls for active case finding. If a risk factor is present, a feasible approach might be to ask about symptoms and complaints and to establish serum transaminase levels.
Schalm
S W
SW
Erasmus MC-Centrum, afd. Maag-, Darm- en Leverziekten, Rotterdam. solko.schalm@expertdoc.nl
Buster
E H C J
EH
D016358:Contact Tracing; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000592:standards*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012307:Risk Factors; D012955:Societies, Medical