FRIDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- The OraQuick HCV Rapid
Antibody Test to detect antibodies from the hepatitis C virus has
been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The blood diagnostic is a test strip that does not require an
additional device to obtain results in about 20 minutes, the agency
said in a news release.
HCV is commonly transmitted through shared use of an intravenous
drug needle or from an infected mother to her child. Initially it
can cause inflammation of the liver and may progress to liver
disease or liver cancer.
Some 3.2 million people in the United States are chronically
infected with the virus, and some 17,000 new infections are
reported each year, government statistics show.
The OraQuick test is produced by OraSure Technologies, based in
Bethlehem, Penn.
More information
The
FDA has more about this approval.