some results

[cally44]

Hi all,

I got my latest lab results..my alt went up from 12 in November to now 29 (within normal lab range) and my ast is 23..dna undectable..that's good.  I am just worried about my alt a little..and my afp went down from 7.1 to 6.8.  Still a little high.  Any suggestions for me?  My ultrasound was normal but i am waiting for my fibrosure test.  Hopefully it will be okay.  Also, my MCH was 26.7 (lab range 27-33) and they wrote that i have slight hypochromasia.  What is that?  My platelets appear adequate.

My son had the HBIG and the Hep B shot and all 3 shots but his antibodies was non-reactive.  What do you think I should do?  Retest him or have the doc give him another hep b shot?  It was also non-reactive for surface antigen.  I am kinda suprised it was non-reactive...shouldn't they have developed antibodies when given the HBIG shot too?

Thanks in advance,
Cally

[stevenNYer]

I can relate with the AFP...it can drive us crazy.

My is "in range" but it was going up to high 4s.  Last set of labs, it came down .3 (similiar to your situation).  My doctor said it's nothing to worry about, unless all of a suddent it shoots up to 200 or 300.  

AFP is produced in developing (healthy) liver cells, so if you have a immuno-response to the HepB virus, the host cells die, ALT goes up, then those liver cell needs to be replaced, as new cells develop, AFP goes up.  So I think maybe this is why heppers' AFP tend to fluctuate.  This is not from a study but from my own logic.

[zellyf]

They repeat the series.  There is no way to know if it is necessary.  Maybe he has immune memory, maybe he was a non-responder.  There's no way to know.

[cally44]

Do they only give the one shot...or do they have to go through the series again.  I am sorta anti-vaccine but will only do Hep B b/c it is necessary.  I think I read somewhere that if the mom is e antigen negative and has undectable dna..she is less infectious as opposed to someone who is e antigen positive.

Thanks Zelly,

Cally

[zellyf]

Another blood test won't help.  

Its not uncommon to not test positive for the antibodies after the 2 month time frame, however, most vaccinated persons are still protected as the body has an "immune memory".  

I did not get my children's titers done in time because even though I asked several times if we shouldn't, the pediatrician insisted it wasn't necessary.  The health department disagreed but didn't say anything until years later.  By then, two of them tested negative for antibodies (the third was an infant and tested positive for antibodies).  The older two were revaccinated and then test positive for antibodies (negative for surface antigen).  

You should probably revaccinate.  Check with your doctor.

[cally44]

My son is 2 and no he didn't get his titres done..this is the first time.  They didn't even have a number as to how low it was..it just said for antibodies non-reactive.  Should the doc give him another shot or should we do another blood test?

thanks

[zellyf]

Just having viral hepatitis can cause an elevated AFP.  People just have normal variations and you have to consider differences from one lab to another.  

How old is your son now?  Did he get the titres done within 1 or 2 months of his last shot?

[cally44]

Cajim,

My son's last shot was when he was 6 month's old.  He should have had titres by now..i think.

Zelly, yeah probably so but I don't eat steak or drink or take tylenol.  It could have been just not eating healthy since we were traveling so much.  Hopefully it will go down again.  

For AfP why do some pple have low afp like 1 or 0 and others keep getting that 6 or 7 mark reading..>

[zellyf]

A lot of things could have caused the 29.   A nice juicy steak.  A Tylenol.  A glass of wine.  If you see a stepwise increase then you might need to investigate further.  Your AFP is well within the normal range.  For liver cancer they are looking for an AFP in the hundreds.  

[cajim]

Not sure what your other readings were, but the ones above look good.

When did your son's anti-HBs test non-reactive?  Usually it needs be 1 month after the third shot.

Best.