HCV diagnosed when screening for blood donation

[thriller700]

Hi Friends

Welcome me here.  As I am a new patient of HCV.

Some days back I went for donating blood.  But at screening stage they refuse to take my blood and following report was given to me.

" Test Performed by ELISA method"

                                     Patient Value         Cutt off Value
Hepatitis C                          0.400                    0.140            "


Please tell me what it means?? Whether it means my HCV is positive or I have to go for anyother tests.

2ndly as per your experience what may be the chances of my HCV negative in next type of tests which i have to be performed.  As per my thinking it seems my HCV is not very much positive.  May be the chances that it may be negative in further tests.

Please guide me

Thanks a lot

[thriller700]

Thanx a lot for your reply

Today I am going for PCR Qualitative

Lets C what this test says

[Trinity4]

From what I understand, this is the second time within a ten year period you have been told you are positive for hepc antibodies so the next step is the PCR.  There are two types of PCR's, qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative PCR is used to confirm if there is actual hepc virus present in the blood and not just antibodies from a previous infection that may have resolved on it's own.  It does not provide an actual viral load count.

Quantitative PCR is also used to confirm if the hepc virus is present in the blood and provides a viral load count (how many viral particles per ML of blood) This test is done when the patient is considering antiviral therapy and repeated throughout the course of treatment to determine how well the antiviral drugs are working.

A PCR will also determine what genotype of the HCV virus is present.
Genotype will determine the length of antiviral therapy.

I don't know the protocol in Pakistan, but if it were me I would have a quantitative PCR done because you have presented positive for antibodies on two separate occasions and knowing your viral load count is a good tool when starting treatment.

Good Luck
Trinity

[thriller700]

Thank you so much Trinty and nygirl for your valuable reply and time for me.

Now Which PCR test have to be performed, whether qualitative or anyother PCR.  I heard one or two types of PCR Test but not sure which one now have to be taken.

2ndly I think almost 10 years back.  I heard from some lab regarding my HCV positive. That was also for donation of blood purpose. But I could not obtain any written report.  I dont know how much liver has been demaged so far.

I thought that ELISA method does not showing much positivity so i was hopeful that HCV may be negative in PCR. Now after listening just 20% negativity in PCR I am very frightened now.

Please guide me a bit more

Thanks a lot

[nygirl7]

Good luck, as Trinity said get the PCR and then you will know if you have the disease or the antibodies alone.  It is possible you were infected in the past and beat the disease - but you need to find out for certain.

Most of us had no idea we had the disease as we never had any real symptoms.  Most don't have symptoms until the disease has progressed and substantial liver damage has occured already - in some cases to the point of cirrhosis which is the worst stage of the disease.

Once you determine if you have the disease or not then you can begin to do more tests to help you decide if you need or want to do treatment or not.  It is not a death sentence however often HCV is called The Silent Killer (because we don't realize we have it) so please do proceed with the test and don't put your head in the sand and pretend this did not happen and let too much time go by. Usually hepC is a very slowly progressing disease so that is a positive to remember.

Good luck.

[Trinity4]

ELISA, test is a type of medical diagnostic test used to detect whether a certain antibody or antigen is present.  In your case, it's the HCV antibody.

In general, an ELISA test is considered reliable within the immunology community. It is possible, however, for a patient who does not actually have the targeted infection to experience a phenomenon known as a false positive. A false positive occurs when a patient who is not infected with the target antibodies gives a positive result during the ELISA test.  

The next they should perform is an HCV PCR RNA.  This test will actually provide a definitive diagnosis whether the HCV virus is present in the blood.  About 20% of people who present positive for HCV antibodies will show negative for the virus because their immune system will have fought it off, thus they do not become chronic.

Good Luck with your PCR
Trinity