hepatitis c

[fp145]

my friend get sticked in a needle that she just sticked a patient with. she immediately washed her hand with soap and warm water. However, later, the facility had done some tests for the patient and hepatitis c came reactive. Is that meant the patient is positive for Hepatitis C?What is the difference betwen being tested positive and hepatitis c reactive? After the result of patient being hepatitis c reactive, the facility did more blood work in the patient as polymerase or kind of pcr test that i am not familiar with the term.What is the percentage chance that my friend has to catch the disease? Do you believe by being hepatitis c reactive the patient has the virus? if yes what could be the percentage?

[viaduk]

"After a needlestick or sharps exposure to HCV-positive blood, the risk of HCV infection is approximately 1.8% (range: 0%–10%)"

That's incredibly  low odds!  My dermatologist once stuck himself with a sharp that he used to biopsy a lesion (he knew I was HCV+)  and I felt terrible about it.  He never did contract the virus, but I felt so guilty about possibly infecting him.

[nygirl7]

I think this sentence is probably the most important without knowing what tests were done...or if the patient was positive for the disease or just the antibodies (which doesn't necessarily mean they are now infected but could have been in the past).

"After a needlestick or sharps exposure to HCV-positive blood, the risk of HCV infection is approximately 1.8% (range: 0%–10%)."


That's pretty good odds that your friend did not get infected, although it is possible it is really not likely.

Wishing you the best of luck with this but that is the best 'guess' any of us can give on it.

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

Hepatitis C can cause a serious liver disease that ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong chronic illness that attacks the liver.  Approximately 75–85% of people who become infected with Hepatitis C virus will develop a chronic infection, but this can vary widely in severity.

The tests that were performed on your friend were not clearly described, so I can't comment on that aspect.  If they were, in fact, PCR tests, then this is probably the most accurate and sensitive test that can be performed on Hep C.

Prof. Garth Nicolson

[Trinity4]

If you mean by hepatitis c "reactive" that the patient was given an antibody test and the results were positive it does not indicate the patient is HCV RNA serum positive.  Only an HCV RNA by PCR will confirm that.  People test positive for antibodies but negative on a PCR because the immune system fought off the virus or the antibody test results were false-postive. The virus can't be transmitted through antibodies.  The person must have the RNA virus in their blood.

After a needlestick or sharps exposure to HCV-positive blood, the risk of HCV infection is approximately 1.8% (range: 0%–10%).

Your friend should report the incident so that the necessary follow-up procedures can be implemented.

Trinity