{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:15:36Z","timestamp":1787030136200,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777507200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Gilead Sciences","award":["G43C24002170007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["G43C24002170007"]}]},{"award":["G43C24002170007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["G43C24002170007"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03hxqcn24","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>National HCV screening, a cost-effective program in Italy, is supported by the Italian Ministry of Health. Free-of-charge screening was approved for people who use drugs, prisoners and the 1969\u20131989 general population birth cohort. However, the benefits of extending hospital-based screening irrespective of age, in terms of case detection and linkage to care, remain unclear. We assessed a streamlined in-hospital pathway at San Giuseppe Hospital (Milan), between 2021 and 2024, with anti-HCV screening for all admissions and HCV-RNA confirmation when indicated. Anti-HCV seroprevalence among 18,218 screened patients was 1.9% (medical wards 3.8%, surgical 1.4%). Viremia was detected in 23\/75 tested (31%); 78% linked to care and 30% initiated treatment. Notably, 91% of viremic patients were born before 1969 indicating hospital-based screening effectively identifies HCV infections in older cohorts missed by national screening programs. Systematic screening implementation across hospital wards represents a pragmatic micro-elimination strategy for Italy and similar epidemiological contexts, advancing 2030 elimination targets.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18050516","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T08:03:47Z","timestamp":1777536227000},"page":"516","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Hepatitis Free Hospital: Retrospective Results of an In-Hospital Project of Hepatitis C Virus Micro-Elimination"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3568-1531","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federica","family":"Cerini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatology Unit, San Giuseppe Hospital, University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Dipartimento di Eccellenza 2023\u20132027, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2656-224X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Loreta A.","family":"Kondili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanit\u00e0, 00161 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"UniCamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, 00131 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Masellis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatology Unit, San Giuseppe Hospital, University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Agostino","family":"Cosenza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatology Unit, San Giuseppe Hospital, University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmelo","family":"Selvaggio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatology Unit, San Giuseppe Hospital, University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Grazia","family":"Rumi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatology Unit, San Giuseppe Hospital, University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-1253(23)00408-9","article-title":"WHO Hepatitis C Elimination Targets: The Global Equity Challenge","volume":"9","author":"Heath","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet Gastroenterol. 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Hepatol."}],"container-title":["Viruses"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-4915\/18\/5\/516\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T04:14:22Z","timestamp":1777695262000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-4915\/18\/5\/516"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["v18050516"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/v18050516","relation":{},"ISSN":["1999-4915"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1999-4915","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]}}}