VL info - a bit confused

Okay - so - I have not had a viral load test yet but see the hep guy 9/1.  I think I understand from what I have read in this forum that the higher viral loads are cured easier?  

Would someone with acute hep c  have a higher viral load?

AND -  If I went to the lab in the hospital and received a report that I tested positive for hep c, does that mean just the antibodies or the actual virus?  

THANK YOU !!!

[Bill1954]

Viral load is best utilized as a barometer to treatment response; it really doesn’t have any relationship to either disease progression or ease of clearing the virus per se. For instance, personally I have always had a low viral load (<150,000 IU/mL); but I had significant fibrotic progression and a difficult time clearing the virus.

Statistically though, genotype 1 patients with ‘low’ viral load (now defined as <400,000 IU/mL), when combined with other factors might be able to clear the virus more rapidly, and qualify for a truncated treatment session.

This all applies to chronic disease, by the way; acute disease has it’s own parameters.

“AND -  If I went to the lab in the hospital and received a report that I tested positive for Hep c, does that mean just the antibodies or the actual virus?”

This is difficult to say; you’d have to check with the hospital lab and find the test given. The standard initial screening test for Hep C is the antibody test; while the defining test for active infection is the ‘HCV RNA by PCR’ test. There is plenty of confusion even among medical professionals as to which test to use, and what means what in HCV testing.

Good luck, Ann—

Bill

[Anne1717]

Thank you - The more I learn the better questions I can ask once I get there.  Thank you for being so helpful

[Anne1717]

Are you doing well now?

[Bill1954]

Hey, thanks for asking! I’m doing really well. I was diagnosed in late 2004 with genotype 1 and significant fibrosis; I have since treated twice, the last time successfully and completed it all in August ’08. I still stick around for the banter :o)

Bill

[Anne1717]

Awesome - I suppose it's like Al - Anon - a long time member  - but long after the alcoholic is gone the "old timers" are need to shepherd the newcomers and offer their experience, strength, and hope.  I feel this happens here and I for one  am most grateful.  

[billm57]

i agree - and generally family drs dont order pcr viral loads - thats usually what the hep guy does - antibody test only indicates exposure at some time - in and of itself its usless as a confirmatory test - the pcr confirms active infection - antibodies are produced by the body to any and every infection we ever had also the mothers are acquired by the baby during breastfeeding and we have them for life

[Anne1717]

I checked  it was a pcr test.

Glad you are doing well

A

[Bill1954]

Hehehe… maybe like AA ; or perhaps more aptly like visiting inmates in the asylum after release :o).

Either way, welcome. It sounds like you’re asking all the right questions; this should help you effectively advocate for yourself as you enter the maze. There’s an astonishing amount of info to absorb, isn’t there?

--Bill

[billm57]

what were your results of the pcr test

[Anne1717]

My Dad has 42 years in AA !

Yes - lots of information - OMG I had no idea