Hepatitis B & C: Closing the Diagno...
13 Oct,2026
Hepatitis B & C: Closing the Diagnosis Gap with Real-Time PCR
A Silent Epidemic Hiding in Plain Sight
Viral hepatitis now kills about 1.34 million people a year, and many of them never knew they were infected. Hepatitis B and C can persist in the liver for decades without symptoms, quietly driving cirrhosis and liver cancer until it is too late to act.
The Numbers from the WHO Global Hepatitis Report 2026
· 287 million people worldwide live with chronic Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C: 240 million with Hepatitis B and 47 million with Hepatitis C.
· These infections caused 1.34 million deaths in 2024, or about 3,700 every day. Hepatitis B accounted for about 1.1 million of these deaths and Hepatitis C for about 240,000..
· Hepatitis B deaths have risen 17% since 2015. India is one of ten countries that together account for nearly 70% of all Hepatitis B deaths.
· Most patients are not reached. Fewer than 5% of people with chronic Hepatitis B were on treatment in 2024, and only 20% of eligible Hepatitis C patients have been treated since 2015.
That gap is the real problem. As WHO puts it, every missed diagnosis and untreated infection represents a preventable death. Effective treatment exists, including a cure for Hepatitis C. What is missing is accurate testing at scale
Why a Positive Antibody Test Is Only the Beginning
Screening tests such as HBsAg and anti-HCV tell a clinician that a patient has encountered the virus. They do not show how much virus is active, whether it is replicating or whether treatment is working.
An anti-HCV antibody can remain positive for life even after the infection has cleared. A person living with Hepatitis B may have low, stable viral levels or rising levels that require clinical attention. Molecular testing helps distinguish these situations.
Real-time PCR detects and measures the virus’s own genetic material, HBV DNA or HCV RNA, in a blood sample. It answers the questions that guide clinical decisions:
- Is the infection active? Confirms current infection after a reactive screening test.
- How much virus is present? Viral load, reported in IU/mL, supports treatment decisions.
- Which strain is it? For Hepatitis C, the genotype can help guide regimen selection.
- Is treatment working? Changes in viral load help assess response during and after therapy.
Hepatitis B: Knowing the Viral Load
For people living with chronic Hepatitis B, HBV DNA levels are central to treatment assessment and monitoring. Because the virus can persist for years, patients may need repeated, comparable measurements over time.
TRUPCR® HBV Viral Load Kit is a quantitative real-time PCR assay developed for HBV DNA measurement. The assay’s performance has been evaluated at a tertiary-care liver centre in India (Lall et al., VirusDisease, 2019), and its method is published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (Bag et al., 2023).
Hepatitis C: Confirm, Characterise, Cure
Hepatitis C is curable. Achieving that cure depends on confirming active infection, selecting an appropriate treatment approach and demonstrating that the virus is no longer detectable. TRUPCR® provides two complementary kits for this pathway.
Confirming and Monitoring with Viral Load
TRUPCR® HCV Viral Load Kit quantifies HCV RNA to confirm active infection, establish a baseline before treatment and assess virological response afterwards.
Choosing Therapy with Genotyping
HCV genotype can influence treatment selection. TRUPCR® HCV Genotyping Kit detects HCV and identifies the genotype in a single real-time PCR workflow.
· Differentiates genotypes 1, 1a, 2 (2a/2b), 3, 4, 5a and 6 using a multi-tube multiplex format.
· Uses serum or EDTA plasma, with an internal control to flag PCR inhibition.
TRUPCR® Hepatitis Portfolio at a Glance
| KIT | USE | TARGET | SENSITIVITY | GENOTYPES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRUPCR® HBV Viral Load | Quantify HBV DNA and monitor therapy | S gene | LoD 2.5 IU/mL | A–J |
| TRUPCR® HCV Viral Load | Quantify HCV RNA, confirm infection and monitor response | 5′-UTR | LoD 20 IU/mL | 1–6 |
| TRUPCR® HCV Genotyping | Detect HCV and identify genotype before therapy | Genotype-specific regions | LoD 500 IU/mL | 1, 1a, 2 (2a/2b), 3, 4, 5a and 6 |
Closing the Gap, One Test at a Time
WHO aims to reduce new hepatitis infections by 90% and deaths by 65% by 2030. That goal cannot be achieved while most infected people remain undiagnosed. Reliable and accessible molecular testing is one of the most direct ways to change that.
As an ISO 13485:2016-certified Indian manufacturer, 3B BlackBio Dx develops TRUPCR® kits to support standardised, high-sensitivity hepatitis testing in laboratories across India and beyond, backed by technical support and training.
Want to add TRUPCR® hepatitis testing to your laboratory? Contact our team at info@3bblackbio.com, and our representative will respond within 24 hours.
Publications:
- Sah UK, et al. Genotypes and Viral Load of Hepatitis C Virus among HIV Patients Visiting ART Center of Nepal. 2022.
- Sah UK, et al. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2023;8(7):361.
- Bag S, Ghosh S, Lalwani R, et al. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2023;(202).
- Lall S, Choudhary MC, Mahajan S, et al. VirusDisease. 2019;30(2):186–192.
- Pandey P, Pandey A, Taneja J, et al. Infectious Disease Diagnosis & Treatment. 2023;7:226.
