Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health threat for migrant populations in Spain and efforts to scale up testing are needed to reach the WHO elimination targets. The Hepatitis B Virus Community Screening and Vaccination in Africans (HBV-COMSAVA) study aims to use point-of-care testing and simplified diagnostic tools to identify, link to care, or vaccinate African migrants in Barcelona during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 21/11/20 to 03/07/2021, 314 study participants were offered HBV screening in a community clinic. Rapid tests for HBsAg screening were used and blood samples were collected with plasma separation cards. Patients received results and were offered: linkage to specialist care; post-test counselling; or HBV vaccination in situ . Sociodemographic and clinical history were collected and descriptive statistics were utilized. 274 patients were included and 210 (76.6%) returned to receive results. The HBsAg prevalence was 9.9% and 33.2% of people had evidence of past resolved infection. Overall, 133 required vaccination, followed by post-test counselling (n = 114), and linkage to a specialist (n = 27). Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, by employing a community-based model of care utilizing novel simplified diagnostic tools, HBV-COMSAVA demonstrated that it was possible to diagnose, link to care, and vaccinate African migrants in community-based settings.
【저자키워드】 Epidemiology, Viral hepatitis, Health services, 【초록키워드】 vaccination, COVID-19 pandemic, Infection, diagnostic, virus, Population, Screening, HBV, Prevalence, point-of-care, African, Patient, Spain, Rapid, Community, hepatitis B, targets, Care, diagnose, Rapid tests, Evidence, Hepatitis B virus, linkage, Chronic Hepatitis B, Barcelona, evidence of, followed by, chronic hepatitis, Blood samples, Descriptive statistics, blood sample, effort, HBsAg, specialist, public health threat, clinical history, vaccinate, identify, collected, required, were used, demonstrated, the WHO, resolved, returned, study participant, receive, offered, plasma separation, 【제목키워드】 HBV, African, Community, Care,