People could learn within 15 minutes whether they are infected with hepatitis C, thanks to a rapid test developed by Northwestern University.
The test will allow doctors to diagnose infections during an office visit and kickstart patients' treatment before they leave, researchers said.
"This test could revolutionize HCV care in the U.S. and globally by dramatically improving diagnosis, accelerating treatment uptake and enabling more people to be cured faster," researcher Dr. Claudia Hawkins said in a news release. She's director of Northwestern's Institute for Global Health's Center for Global Communicable and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Chicago.
"By reducing delays and simplifying testing pathways, it has the potential to save millions of lives from the devastating liver-related complications of untreated HCV," Hawkins added.
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