Early Responder

I can't seem to get a clear answer on this...I was diagnosed with type 3a and after a month of the injection/pills, my blood tests came back negative. The doctor says I have to finish treatment(another 4 months) and I don't really understand this. Do I have Hepatitus (hepatitis) c anymore? Can I still infect people? Is it going to come back?

[scruples]

First of all congrats of becoming negative. As per current terminology, you are considered as RVR ( who get negative after 4 weeks of treatment) , in Geno 2 & 3 this does happen, it means your body is responding good to the medicine and your chances of  SVR ( permanent clearence) are very bright. Moreover now a days doctors do consider to shorten the treatment duration of Geno 2 & 3 to 4 months (16 weeks) if the patient becomes negative in first four weeks.

PCR negative means that the test does not locate any virus in your blood, however the sensativity of different tests are differen, you should check the sensativity of that test. There is a possibility that some virus left in the body which are not detected by the test so You have to complete the treatment of 4 months atleat or if your doctor suggest upto six months. If you donot complete the treatment it can come back.

Doctors usually dont allow the HCV negative persons to donate blood etc so it implies that one can infect other people even after clearence.

[epiphiny]

The HC virus doesn't just live in your blood, it also lives in the tissues and at cellular level.  Becoming UND or undetectable means that the test your doctor has specified can find no replicating or active virus in your blood.  This is GOOD and the first step towards SVR or Sustained Viral Response.

You need to continue the treatment medications for the specified time to make sure all of the virus is found within your tissues and suppressed.  Even tho it is tempting to shorten your treatment, unless you meet certain criteria you will be best to go for the full 6 months (24 weeks of treatment).

Shortening your treatment time can also increase your chances of relapse.

If you relapse and have to treat again it would likely be for a longer period of time, at this point in time, some Geno 3a people are already treating for 48 weeks.

You are not considered to have SVR (or what is known as a 'cure') until if, at 24 weeks after the end of treatment, the virus is still undetectable in your blood.

While there is a chance the virus can reappear after your treatment some Geno 3s have an 80% chance of SVR.  Everyone is unique and responds differently.

It's great you've got to UND, now you need to keep bashing the virus until it can't stand up anymore!!  Keep going!!

Epi :)