Need help with my RIBA results

[mel450]

These were my test results and were wondering what they meant?

No reactive bands present. Or reactivity to the hSOD band only.            Negative.

Reactivity to any SINGLE HCV antigen band. or Reactivity to any          Inderterminate
HCV antigen band AND to the hSOD band.                              

Reactivity to at least two HCV antigen bands which are encoded by       Positive.
different part of the HCV genome.

From a previous post i understand that RIBA testing is my antibodies and i might have to do a PCR to check for virus. What is the likelihood that i might test negative for the virus?

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you

[Bill1954]

Thank you for taking the time to follow up; and congratulations with the negative PCR!

I agree; even if the RIBA result is positive, that only confirms exposure; a PCR is still necessary to determine active infection.

Very good news; take care, and have a long, healthy life—

Bill

[Marcia2202]

congratulations!!!!

It must be such a relief!

[mel450]

I visited a Gastrologist with my RIBA results and he said that it is no good to know whether you have Hep C or not and that the test needs to be done away with. Anyway i had really gone to him so i can get a VL done. Which came negative.. So i do not have Hep C..

Thanks for all your help.

[Bill1954]

HCV screening tests use antibody detection; these tests are designed to screen large groups of people in a cost effective manner. These tests have significant rates of false positive results, and rely heavily on follow up testing like RIBA and PCR to determine if active infection is present.

The comprehensive results you posted are all non-reactive; I don’t see how it would be possible to interpret these otherwise. By all means, get an opinion from a qualified doctor; it will be needed for confirmation.

The last paragraph in the results you posted initially are simply generic instructions for interpreting the results; they are not *you’re* results.

Good luck and let us know the outcome if you get the chance—

Bill

[mel450]

Alright, i had visited my gynecologist a few days ago and she asked me if i wanted to do HIV and bunch of other blood work and i said sure. In the screening my cut off for Hep C was 1.90. So she recommended i do RIBA testing the results came back today and it reads as follows
HCV AB, RIba Negative
Band Pattern
5-1-1 (p)/c100 (P) Non-reactive
c33c Non-reactive
c22p Non-reactive
ns5 Non-reactive
hSOD Non-reactive

but then at the end of the report there was the list i mentioned in my previous post and my Gynecologist did not understand the report. She said its confusing to her, its non-reactive to everything but towards the end it says positive. She was reading the INTERPRETATIONS column - positive.

but after i read your post it made sense that my result should really be negative since everything shows non-reactive.
right????
Now, even if i am not exposed it is possible to have the virus? Why would i show positive in the first screening test?

I am going to see an internal medicine doc asap anyway.

Thank you so much Bill for your response..

[Bill1954]

I’m not intimately familiar with RIBA testing; however, it appears you have posted the possible explanations, rather than your particular results. In other words, which of the groups above is checked; do you have actual results? The list you provided doesn’t appear to be results; only possibilities… which of the three possibilities are you?

The RIBA test only confirms exposure; it doesn’t test for active infection. For that, you’ll need a PCR test; has one f these been ordered yet?

Bill