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Avatar universal

Spontaneous Clearance?

Hi,
I am an 18 year old female. I have OCD and anxiety and worry often about my health. I am always very safe (perhaps overly safe) with exposure to germs and diseases. I was worried (irrationally) about having contracted HIV, so I went to the doctors to get blood work done.
After waiting for a week and feeling full of more stress and anxiety than I have ever felt before the doctor called with my results. I was HIV negative (which deep down I knew) but..I was hepatitis c positive.
She told me she believes that I am one of the lucky 10% that are exposed to hepatitis c and fight off the virus naturally. She said I had antibodies in my system but an active virus was negative. She said a natural, spontaneous clearance occurred, but that I should see a gastroenterologist to be certain that I don't have the hepatitis c virus anywhere else in my body.
Here's the thing..I am a virgin. I have no tattoos or recent piercings (other than getting my ears pierced years ago when I was a little girl) I have never had a blood transfusion and I have never injected drugs. The only time I have come in contact with a needle was at the doctor's office. How is this even possible? Am I that unlucky of a person?? It does not make sense.
Could there be a false positive going on here?
I went on a trip last summer and received the hepatitis b vaccine, could that potentially give me a false positive?
I feel anxiety and confusion over this. The waiting game I have been playing has caused me severe stress.
I don't know where to go from here.
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317787 tn?1473358451
Hi, back in the mid 90's I was tested for Hepatitis A, B, C due to my liver enzymes being slightly elevated.  The test came back negative.  I went on living my life for another  10 years before discovering that was a false negative.
I asked my hepatologist about it and he said that back in the 90's  the tests were not as sensitive.  Right before starting a trial in 2008 I tested positive for HBV after many negative tests.  I was retested and it came back negative.
It really made me question the validity of tests.
Dee
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Avatar universal
Thank you ladies! I went to my doctor today and he told me that I had nothing to worry about. My antibody number was 6.6 My viral load was negative.
My worrisome mind is telling me nothing is certain and that there is still a chance of having it. Are these viral tests accurate?
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Avatar universal
Thank you ladies! I went to my doctor today and he told me that I had nothing to worry about. My antibody number was 6.6 My viral load was negative.
My worrisome mind is telling me nothing is certain and that there is still a chance of having it. Are these viral tests accurate?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I meant a false negative. Sorry.

P.S. I wish we could edit our responses.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Dee, Wow! You are the only person I have ever heard say they had a false positive. I guess that is pretty rare. Sorry it happened to you.

I also forgot to mention that mother to unborn child is a way to transmit the virus, as well.

Thanks for the link to the slides. I haven't seen that one and will go look.
Helpful - 0
317787 tn?1473358451
I thought this might help you.  It shows how HCV can be transmitted.  There are many other pages of information.

http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/how-hepatitis-c-transmitted#7
Helpful - 0
317787 tn?1473358451
Hello there!  Worried Mom has answered your question perfectly.  There are other ways to contract HCV than the ways that you mentioned.  Most people don't know this as the media rarely mentions it so the stigma continues.
I am really happy that your body was able to fight it off.  You are really lucky.
While your GP knew enough to do the two tests he is wrong that it could be someplace else in your body.  If you have no viral load you have no virus.  It is possible that  you had a false positive.  Unfortunately I received a false negative years ago so that my HCV went on for another 10 years.
Congratulations, be happy
Dee
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi. First of all, congratulations on being virus negative on the test that really counts. A couple of things could have happened. You could have a false positive and your doctor would likely be able to tell you what the chance of that is by telling you what your signal-to-ratio cutoff number is. Or, you could have been exposed to the virus and your body fought it off. That happens actually more that 10% of the time, actually closer to 15-25% of the time. Or, the blood sample could have been contaminated.

I think your doctor is being especially cautious in sending you to a specialist. But  since you are viral load (HCV/RNA) undetected, there is no way you could have virus someplace else in your body. It's still a good idea to go and make sure the specialist looks at all your results and makes sure they were read correctly. That would make you 110% sure that you are fine.

While you listed some of the ways the virus can be transmitted, there are other ways as well. One of them is through improper sterilization of medical instruments such as at a dentist's office. Piercings done a long time ago would be another way to get the virus. And fully 30% of people claim no known risk factors but they still have the virus.

I really think you can breathe easy and try not to worry about this. Realize how lucky you are to be hep C virus negative. And, even if you were positive, the new generation of drugs are easy to take and curing just about everyone. There is nothing to be afraid of any more. Personally, I am more concerned about your "medical anxiety". It is a painful way to live. You might want to consider talking to a professional who can help you deal with that kind of anxiety.
Helpful - 0
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