CDC Recommends Universal Hepatitis C Screening for Adults and All Pregnant Women

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued updated public health recommendations for hepatitis C screening in the United States. The guidance calls for one-time hepatitis C screening for all adults and recommends screening of all pregnant women during every pregnancy. The recommendations are based on public health surveillance data and modeling studies, not a specific clinical trial.

No specific study design, sample size, comparator, or clinical outcomes data are reported with these recommendations. The CDC does not provide numerical results on screening effectiveness, test performance, or clinical outcomes associated with implementing these guidelines. The recommendations represent a shift toward universal screening rather than risk-based screening.

No safety or tolerability data are reported, as these are screening recommendations rather than treatment guidelines. Key limitations include the absence of reported evidence review methodology, strength of evidence ratings, or cost-effectiveness analyses. For clinical practice, these recommendations provide updated public health guidance for hepatitis C screening in adult and obstetric populations in the United States.