Abstract: Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate normalized follow-up for hepatitis C micro-elimination strategy (MES) in a general tertiary hospital. Methods The clinical materials of hospitalized patients with serum anti-HCV and/or HCV RNA positive in our hospital between October 2020 and May 2022 were retrieved, and all patients were informed by phone call or text message for them recall. Results Rates of serum anti-HCV screening and HCV RNA load detection after normalized follow-up were 83.7% and 83.5%, both were significantly higher than 70.6% and 72.3% (x²=3141.888, P<0.001;x²=25.474, P <0.001) in the past period; patients lost to followed-up in the normalized follow-up period was 28.0%, significantly lower than 44.8% (x²=23.439, P <0.001) in the past; percentage of patients with knowledge of hepatitis C prevention and treatment was as high as 72.0%, and 66.0% of patients expressed positive, 21.0% expressed inactive and only 13.0% had negative attitude towards antiviral treatment intention; effective recall rate in normalized follow-up perios was 44.3$, much higher than 32.9% (x²=4.183, P<0.05) in the past; of 122 successfully recalled patients, direct antiviral agent therapy was initiated in all, all except for one who lost visit achieved sustained virological response (SVR24 of 100.0%(121/121)/SVR48 of 100.0%(121/121). Conclusion The in-hospital hepatitis C MES has the advantages of simple, low cost and sustainability, which might help achieving goals of elimination of hepatitis C in the near future.

Key words: Hepatitis C, Micro-elimination strategies, Follow-up, Antiviral therapy