The application of the new cut-off values in a virtual cohort of 1,000 patients with chronic hepatitis C and a 30% prevalence of severe fibrosis increases the number of true positive results to 35 (with the consequent benefit of IFN-free treatment) at the expense of 310 more false positive results: i.e. the penalty from being false negative clearly outweighs the penalty from being false positive (Table 4). Here, IFNA1 is linked to chronic hepatitis C virus infection.