Artificial intelligence (AI) is used to diagnose hepatitis C, which is called the ‘silent killer’ because it has no symptoms. The UK’s National Health System (NHS) will use AI to diagnose and treat hepatitis C. The Guardian reported exclusively.
Because hepatitis C usually does not cause any symptoms even if it is infected, it is only discovered following serious damage to the liver has occurred. For this reason, this disease, called the ‘silent killer’, is unknown to many people. If left untreated, it can be life-threatening.
The treatment of hepatitis C is now sufficiently possible due to advances in medical technology. Therefore, it is important to detect the presence of infection. Accordingly, the NHS, a public health system in the UK, introduced AI for early detection of hepatitis C.
The AI will examine the vast medical records of NHS members to find people who may have the hepatitis C virus. In the process, the AI will look into key risk factors, particularly blood transfusions or a history of testing for the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
During this new scanning process, those identified as likely to have hepatitis C will receive a consultation and detailed diagnosis with a primary care physician (GP). Then, if the virus test is positive, the NHS will receive treatment programs from the three major pharmaceutical companies that it has partnered with.
The UK health care system is made up of private hospitals and the backbone of the NHS, which is funded by public taxes. NHS subscribers receive regular consultation and treatment by individually designating a general practitioner (GP) with the concept of a primary care physician.
Professor Graham Foster, who leads the NHS’s Hepatitis C Eradication Program, said, “We will use the new software to find and screen patients at risk from the virus.” “It might save thousands of lives.”
“Hepatitis C can be a fatal disease that affects tens of thousands of people,” he said. added.
Hepatitis C is usually transmitted from blood to blood. In particular, if the needles used for injecting drugs are not sterilized, it can be transmitted. Famous American actress Pamela Anderson used her needles to get her tattoos following she married Tommy Lee, a singer with a history of substance abuse, and she contracted hepatitis C. . The 55-year-old at the time of her infection, received antiviral treatment and made a full recovery.
NHS staff will personally visit high-risk communities in trucks equipped with portable screens that can test for the virus and detect liver damage. The UK health authority has plans to eradicate the virus from the country before the World Health Organization (WHO) achieves its goal of eradicating the global hepatitis C virus by 2030.
Byung-il Jeong, member of AI Times jbi@aitimes.com
