antibodies

I was tested 5 years ago and was positive for hep c antibodies.  can i get hep c through intercourse today through my boyfriend who is infected

[Bill1954]

Exposure to Hep C (HCV) antibodies does not confer immunity, unlike Hep B (HBV). So yes, it’s possible to contract HCV even if you have existing antibodies from another exposure.

That said, it’s unlikely to catch HCV via sex; as long as no blood/trauma is involved. Sexual intercourse is a very inefficient method of transmission, especially penile/vaginal sex. There might be more problems with anal sex, and males who have sex with other males are probably at an icreased risk for vectoring the disease. Any transmission that might occur is also more likely to happen from male to female—

Bill

[Laura764]

Sent you a message.  Doctor took me off treatment today.  Will try again with new drugs in 2011.

[chuckles333]

I clipped the paragraph below fro wikipedia.

Anti-HCV antibodies indicate exposure to the virus, but cannot determine if ongoing infection is present. All persons with positive anti-HCV antibody tests must undergo additional testing for the presence of the hepatitis C virus itself to determine whether current infection is present. The presence of the virus is tested for using molecular nucleic acid testing methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), transcription mediated amplification (TMA), or branched DNA (b-DNA). All HCV nucleic acid molecular tests have the capacity to detect not only whether the virus is present, but also to measure the amount of virus present in the blood (the HCV viral load). The HCV viral load is an important factor in determining the probability of response to interferon-based therapy, but does not indicate disease severity nor the likelihood of disease progression.

You may already be and probably are infected with HCV. Anti-HCV antibodies would indicate exposure and exposed people will not clear the virus themselves 80% of the time. I think further testing would be required. As for sexually transmitting the desease. My wife and I are both infected with different geno-types of HCV and have been for 30 years or more. We've had a normal sex life and have not cross infected each other.