OraQuick hepatitis C virus self-test: A new frontier in hepatitis C screening

Table 1 Comparison of hepatitis C virus diagnostic methods

Diagnostic method	Sample type	Turnaround time	Sensitivity/specificity	Equipment required	User level	Advantages	Disadvantages
Enzyme immunoassay	Serum or plasma	1–5 days	95%-99%/98%-99%	Lab equipment, trained staff	Laboratory professionals	High accuracy; standard for screening	Requires lab setup; not suitable for remote areas
Nucleic acid test	Serum or plasma	1–7 days	> 99%/> 99%	Advanced lab instruments	Laboratory professionals	Confirms active infection; gold standard	High cost; requires infrastructure
GeneXpert HCV RNA	Plasma or serum	About 1 h	99%/99%	Portable cartridge-based system	Trained healthcare workers	Fast, decentralized testing	Expensive; less available in rural settings
OraQuick HCV self-test	Fingerstick or venous blood	About 20 min	98%/100%	None	Layperson (self-testing)	Easy to use; no lab needed; WHO prequalified	Detects antibodies only; follow-up NAT needed

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; WHO: World Health Organization; NAT: Nucleic acid test.

Table 2 Comparison of the OraQuick hepatitis C virus self-test and other point-of-care tests

Test	Type	Sample	Target	Sensitivity	Specificity	Time	Setting
OraQuick HCV self-test	Rapid Ab	Oral fluid	Anti-HCV Ab	97.8%	100%	20 min	Self-test
Alere Truline HCV rapid test	Rapid Ab	Fingerstick blood	Anti-HCV Ab	99.4%	99.7%	15–20 min	Clinic/POC
SD Bioline HCV test	Rapid Ab	Fingerstick blood	Anti-HCV Ab	99.4%	99.7%	15–20 min	Clinic/POC
GeneXpert HCV Viral Load	NAAT (RT-PCR)	Plasma/serum	HCV RNA	100%	98.5%	Approximately 105 min	Decentralized POC
Lab-based HCV ELISA	ELISA	Serum/plasma	Anti-HCV Ab	≥ 99%	≥ 99%	Hours/days	Central lab
Lab-based HCV RNA (PCR)	RT-PCR (quantitative)	Plasma/serum	HCV RNA	Reference standard	Reference standard	Hours–days	Central lab

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; RT-PCR: Reverse transcription PCR; NAAT: Nucleic acid amplification test; POC: Point of care.