Dried blood spots (DBS) have been proposed as an alternative diagnostic technique for chronic viral hepatitis. The aim of this observational study was to correlate serologic HBV, HCV, and HDV status and reflex the respective viral load testing by PSC-DBS samples from capillary blood vs conventional plasma samples in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Besides, we apply these tests in a prospective study for chronic viral hepatitis diagnosis in a rural region of sub-Saharan Africa. In total, 124 HBsAg-positive patients, 75 anti−HCV positive, 2 with HBV−HCV coinfection, and 13 anti-HDV positive were included. PSC-DBS sensitivity/specificity was 98.4 %/96.2 % for HBsAg detection, 98.7 %/100 % for anti−HCV, and 84.6 %/100 % for anti-HDV. HCV-RNA was quantified in all viremic patients using DBS. Only 42 of 78 (53.8 %) samples with HBV-DNA viremia were quantifiable by DBS. Sensitivity increased to 95.7 % in patients with HBV-DNA levels >2000 IU/mL. There was a high correlation between DBS and venous blood. The prevalence of HBsAg among the 93 individuals tested in Angola was 11 %, and 60 % of cases had detectable HBV-DNA viremia. As a conclusion, PSC-DBS is useful for chronic viral hepatitis screening and reflex molecular diagnosis showing globally high sensitivities and correlation with conventional blood samples.

干血斑 (DBS) 已被提议作为慢性病毒性肝炎的替代诊断技术。这项观察性研究的目的是关联血清 HBV、HCV 和 HDV 状态，并通过来自慢性病毒性肝炎患者的毛细血管血与常规血浆样本的 PSC-DBS 样本反映各自的病毒载量测试。此外，我们将这些测试应用于撒哈拉以南非洲农村地区慢性病毒性肝炎诊断的前瞻性研究。总共包括 124 名 HBsAg 阳性患者、75 名抗 HCV 阳性患者、2 名 HBV-HCV 合并感染患者和 13 名抗 HDV 阳性患者。PSC-DBS 敏感性/特异性对于 HBsAg 检测为 98.4 %/96.2 %，对于抗-HCV 为 98.7 %/100 %，对于抗 HDV 为 84.6 %/100 %。使用 DBS 对所有病毒血症患者的 HCV-RNA 进行定量。78 个中只有 42 个（53。8 %) 具有 HBV-DNA 病毒血症的样本可通过 DBS 进行量化。在 HBV-DNA 水平 >2000 IU/mL 的患者中，敏感性增加到 95.7%。DBS与静脉血之间存在高度相关性。在安哥拉接受检测的 93 个人中 HBsAg 的流行率为 11%，60% 的病例可检测到 HBV-DNA 病毒血症。总之，PSC-DBS 可用于慢性病毒性肝炎筛查和反射分子诊断，显示出全球高灵敏度和与常规血液样本的相关性。