please enlighten me some on this virus

Okay when doctors say that Hep C has no cure then what are these drugs for
also what does a carrier mean

[FlGuy]

Most docs beliveve that eliminating the hepatitis c virus, permanently, is a cure.  That's what the meds (ribavirin and peg-interferon) are intended to do.  I suppose a carrier is a person who has the active virus and who can pass it on to another.

[nygirl7]

If you have killed off all of the virus inside you then you don't have it anymore so to us that is cured.

Most doctors agree.

[GrandOak]

No test is capably of measuring that absolutely no virus present.  The best is less than 5 virons.  However, the general consensus is that if a UND status at this level is maintained for an interval of time that SVR has been attained, which is also accepted as the same as being cured.

Technically since HCV is a highly contagious blood bourne disease, anyone infected is a carrier if the definition is simply one who can spread the infection.

As I understand the clinical definition, a "carrier" is one who has the disease, can spread the disease, but is not affect by the disease.

As HCV can remain dormant for an unknown amount of time, 30 years for myself, I do not believe that there truly is a "carrier" classification by that clinical definition.  


For more information on the disease please see:

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/chronichepc/index.htm

[do i or dont i]

Thanks for your input but i am a little confused at what "UND" means .also i dont even know what "SVR" is.
I have had this for 5 years and last year the doctor told me i never had it or my body fought it off. I have to say i liked hearing that. I am also scared to go and get the test again to make sure she was right. i dont want to live with this i feel gross and i am a good person i just got mixed up with the wrong crowd in high school. but since 2005 i have been clean and no drinking either. i smoke and i have had some abdominal pain so this is worrying me all over again.

[mikesimon]

undetectable in this discussion means that the virus is undetectable in the serum - blood. As GO said the popular and readily available tests measure down to 5 international units per milliliter of blood. So if the test does not detect the virus that means you have < 5 IU/ml and are "undetectable". The sensitivity of the tests has increased - meaning they can detect less virus than they could 10 years ago and it is reasonable to expect that the tests will continue to become more and more sensitive in time.

SVR = sustained viral responder which is the designation given to those patients who treat and become undetectable and remain undetectable 6 months after stopping the treatment. Some people call this "cured".

Mike

[Evannescence]

I have been looking everywhere, but nothing found so far - how long is the longest anyone has found to be UND?  3, 4, 7, 10 years?  Also, if one is undetectable, I wonder if it is at all possible you could be considered for being a blood donor.  Why not?

4 years ago, when I had a biopsy it came back with moderate fibrosis (it wasnt expressed as any particular stage though, but a lot of inflammation showed up and they thought there could be autoimmunity, and they decided I shouldnt have treatment, which went along with my feelings of apprehension at the time anyway, and now I feel so strongly that I must take treatment, but I am confused why they are not going to give me a biopsy now again, and why they are happy for me to have the treatment !!  What is different?   I am type 1, VL 39,232 IU/L (this was 643,000 a few years ago)  AST 54 and ALT 95, (gone down over the last year) Alk Phos 36  other bloods normal or neg, but IgM raised at 5.5 and IgA a bit low 0.6.  I dont know what this means.  ANA neg.  I am just so pleased to have found this forum.  This log thing is so utterly perplexing.  I've got so many thoughts about stuff, just dont know where to start with it all. I wonder about the viral load, and mine being lower than 4 years ago.  How is that?  Coud this mean my liver has got smaller due to damage, and there's less of a VL.  (worry is my middle name)

Anyway, soooo pleased to have found you.  My HepC nurse is going to tell me if I can be included on the VX950 trial.  I was wondering whether this could mean I could be one of the placebo group!!  I know questions like these, you could ask your HepC nurse, but it's good to have a forum to come to.  Speak tomorrow.

[orphanedhawk]

This virus still has a stigma attatched to it. However it is fairly indiscriminate. It doesn't mean you are or were a good or bad person.Hepatitis is no more a factor in whether or not you are a good person, than having the flu is. How you got it is not relevent except maybe to researchers. Many people have no idea how they got it. And there is much speculation on ways of transmission.  Get your self tested, if only so you won't have to fret about it.
       Knowledge will set you free.

[Teufelhunden]

My doctor calls it durable remission instead of cured. When pressed about the chances of it coming back or if I was to be cured, he admitted there's not alot of info on Hep C right now. I think for the most part, they're creating the wheel as they go. They're making progress but, like cancer, it's a hit or miss. Grand Oak is right, if we maintain SVR for a length of time, I'll take that as being cured! Oh, and the drugs are to make you mean and grouchy. Keep your chin up! Good things come to those who wait.

[Kalio1]

I understand "cured" to mean that you no longer have virus replicating in your body or are "undetectable" by a PCR DNA test. You will always have antibodies to this virus,but that is not the same thing as having the virus. It just shows you at one time had the virus but no longer do.


Once you no longer have replicating virus you are not considered a "Carrier"
If you have detectable virus, you can still pass it on.

[GrandOak]

As far as I know, Red Cross still will deny donors if they even identify that they *live* with someone with HIV/AIDS or HCV!

I've heard that they may be relaxing that restriction some, but I don't think they've gotten to the point that they would accept donations from anyone who identifies that they were infected by attained SVR.

[GrandOak]

As far as I know, Red Cross still will deny donors if they even identify that they *live* with someone with HIV/AIDS or HCV!

I've heard that they may be relaxing that restriction some, but I don't think they've gotten to the point that they would accept donations from anyone who identifies that they were infected by attained SVR.

Personally, I would ask for, no I would demand, a biopsy just to know what grade and stage I am at before beginning.  Not that it really changes much, but it helps to know where one really is at.

Sounds like your body may be trying to clear virus on it's own and having some degree of success since your LFT's are not that elevated and VL seems quite a bit lower.  But these numbers do flucuate a bit and it could just be that you tested during a lull in the battle so to speak.

As far as I know, I do not think the testers in these trials really know who is on placebos and who is not until the unmasking occurs.  This is to maintain as much unbiasing as possible between the control and test subjects.

So, no I do not think it is a matter of being selected for a placebo group, but more so that you seem to have the greatest chance of clearing.

One reason why I don't put a lot of stock into many of these studies when they select the best candidates too clear, avoid the hardest, and use small samples, then they hardly reflect the type of results one can realisitically expect to see in the field because the very study itself is weighted for success

[Evannescence]

Thanks for that.   I keep trying to talk myself up to my hepatologist and nurse about the fact that my VL is relatively low, and what they say is it has no actual particular consequence, but it's a good thing that it's low.  And of course this is true.  It's about liver damage though.  In a way, I'm actually scared to have a liver biopsy, but maybe once I know, the demons will go away.  I accept that, but I just want it all to be good news.  But maybe the good news is that I am alive today, and so are we all.  This is going to be a very trying time.  So pleased I found this place.