Dramane Kania, Janin Nouhin, Karine Bollore, Richard Njouom, Thomas d'Aquin Toni, Almoustapha Issiaka Maiga, Coumba Toure-Kane, Nicole Ngo-Giang-Huong, Anoumou Dagnra, Duy Hoang Chuong LE, Françoise Lunel-Fabiani, Joany Castera-Guy, Pierre-Alain Rubbo, Amandine Pisoni, Jean-Christophe Plantier, Edouard Tuaillon
OBJECTIVE: Widespread testing and treatment are essential to eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection as a public health concern. However, in resource-limited countries, access to HBV PCR is limited. In this study, we developed a quantitative HBV PCR assay on open molecular platforms and evaluate its performance in diagnosing clinically significant HBV DNA thresholds as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) (2,000 IU/mL, 20,000 IU/mL, and 200,000 IU/mL). METHODS: We implemented our HBV PCR test in seven African and Asian countries and France, using either an in-house laboratory method or a CE-IVD marked version of the PCR (Generic HBV Charge Virale, Biocentric)...
May 10, 2024: Clinical Microbiology and Infection