St James’s Hospital (SJH) has commenced a pilot universal testing programme in its Emergency Department (ED) to detect patients with HIV, hepatitis B and Hep C.

The pilot scheme is expected to be evaluated by the end of the year after data is collected firstly on 5,000 and then on 10,000 recruits.

It is a joint initiative between the Infectious Diseases Society of Ireland, the Department of Genito Urinary Medicine and Infectious Diseases (GUIDE), the Departments of Hepatology, Emergency Medicine (EM) and Clinical Microbiology, the HSE National Social Inclusion Unit, and the Irish Hepatitis C Outcomes Research Network (ICORN).

When collected, the data should determine whether universal testing, increased target testing of individuals with specific risk profiles, or a mixture of both — with perhaps universal testing in areas with high prevalence — is preferable.