New to this-- few questions

[chermonblie]

My husband recently had all Hep testing done and was told 2 days ago that it looks like he has Hep C. The Dr. told him that his count was 4.6, but she wanted to retest his blood just in case they'd somehow gotten a false positive. What does the 4.6 stand for? She also said it looks to be "dormant" as his liver isn't showing any signs of change. We've made an appt with the Liver Institute and I've also been tested (awaiting results). However, I donate blood regularly and was negative as of 60 days ago.

He also had a very high triglyceride count. I read that high triglycerides are linked to spontaneous clearing of this.
Are there any spouse support groups? I want to make sure I can be as supportive to him as possible.

My husband is a professional body piercer, but is over the top about cross contamination. He's never suffered a needle stick and is constantly using anti-microbial cleaners to stay on top of any spread of disease. So this is somewhat of a Catch 22 to us. He does have very sensitive skin and an allergy to latex, so his hands and fingertips stay cracked most of the time. I'm assuming this is how he picked it up. I suppose that doesn't really matter at this point. We have a two year old and I'd just like some reassurance that the likelihood of him contracting this is slim.

So...my questions:
What does 4.6 mean?
If it is dormant, is it still causing damage? Should treatment be started?
Are high triglycerides linked to spontaneous clearing of this?
Spouse support groups?
Household member - what to avoid?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. The more info I have the less I will fear it. Blessings to you all!!

[benefitsdonna]

It is probably the viral load of 4,000,000.  Mine was at around 3,000,000 when i was diagnosed.  I think that is considered a relatively low number tho, so that is good.

[chermonblie]

Just heard back from the Dr. office. No luck on a false positive. This time, however, they said the # was 4.0. Still confused on what that # represents. Dr. is calling me today to explain, but she's not a specialist, so not sure how much info she can give.

[chermonblie]

Thank so much for commenting. So the 4.6 wouldn't have anything to do with the viral load? The Dr. did mention something about viral loads, but at the time I didn't know to ask if that is what she was testing on the 2nd round. We are praying for the same!!

[JennyPenny]

Ok, first of all, hepatitis C is never dormant. If you have it in it's chronic stage (still have virus in blood 6 months after exposure) the virus has the capacity to damage the liver. The 4.6 looks like a signal to cutoff range to me and it helps determine the probability of a false positive result. the best thing to do right now is to confirm if he has the disease. He should get an HCV/RNA test better known as a PCR or viral load test. If there is virus in his blood then he has the virus. If it comes back as undetected he either fought it off on his own or it was a false positive. His doctor should be able to help with explaining that. If he has the virus, the only way your child can contract it is through infected blood entering his bloodstream. So just keep your child away from your husband's personal hygiene items like his razor and toothbrush. the liklihood of your son catching it is slim to none.

I'm not sure where you read about high triglycerides maybe meaning he got rid of the virus on his own. Actually people may have high lipids because of the virus. I've never heard of what you have read.

Good luck and I'm wishing him a false positive.