help

[sammydr1990]

hello doctor
i am a dentist
i do my hep B and C test annualy
laast year my hep B and C were non reactive
but today according to latest report i got mt HCV antibody is reactive **3.58** ?
should i be worried?

[Idyllic]

If it were me I would go ahead and have the HCV PCR & get vaccinated for Hepatitis A & B. I remember talking to my hygienist when she was cleaning my teeth and she said they all get vaccinated for Hepatitis A & B.

[ActingBrandNew]

Do you know which test you had and what the s/co was? You should have some follow up testing done then to make sure like Pooh said above. Id go with an HCV RNA test.

HCV RNA test, Qualitative may be used to distinguish between a current or past infection. It is reported as a "positive" or "detected" if any HCV viral RNA is found; otherwise, the report will be "negative" or not detected." It may also be ordered after HCV treatment is complete to see if the virus has been eliminated from the blood. These tests are seldom used any more.

HCV Viral Load (HCV RNA test, Quantitative) detects and measures the number of viral RNA particles in the blood. Viral load tests are often used before and during treatment to help determine response to treatment by comparing the amount of virus before and during treatment (usually at several time points in the first three months of treatment). Successful treatment causes a decrease of 99% or more (2 logs) in viral load soon after starting treatment (as early as 4-12 weeks) and usually leads to viral load being not detected even after treatment is completed. Some newer viral load tests can detect very low amounts of viral RNA.

[sammydr1990]

sorry its 3.85 according to report . not 3.58

[pooh55811]

Here is a link to labs on line which explains the various tests:

http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/hepatitis-c/tab/test

Your occupation puts you at risk for exposure. If I was you, I would get retested just to be sure. In fact, I would get the HCV RNA test, just to be sure.

[ActingBrandNew]

P.S. Testing below the sc/o means that you are not considered to have HCV


Signal-to-Cut–Off Ratios for Commercially Available Assays

CDC has recommended that a person be considered to have serologic evidence of HCV infection only after an anti-HCV screening-test-positive result has been verified by a more specific serologic test (e.g., RIBA) or a nucleic acid test (NAT). This more specific, supplemental testing is necessary, particularly in populations with a lower prevalence of disease, to identify and exclude false positive screening test results. However, currently, the majority of laboratories report positive anti-HCV results based on a positive screening assay alone.

The recommended anti-HCV testing algorithm has been expanded to include an option that uses the signal-to-cut–off (s/co) ratios of screening-test--positive results. This can serve as an alternative to a supplemental test in some circumstances, minimizing the number of specimens that require supplemental testing and providing a result that has a high probability of reflecting the person's true antibody status.

Signal-to-cut–off ratios are calculated by dividing the optical density (OD) value of the sample being tested by the OD value of the assay cut-off for that run. Analysis of enzyme immunoassay and chemiluminescence assay data indicates that s/co ratios can be used to predict supplemental test-positive results. A specific s/co ratio can be identified for each test that would predict a true antibody-positive result (as defined by the results of supplemental testing) ≥95% of the time, regardless of the anti-HCV prevalence or characteristics of the population being tested.

Implementation of these recommendations will provide more reliable results for physicians and their patients, so that further counseling and clinical evaluation are limited to those confirmed to have been infected with HCV. This is especially critical for persons being tested for HCV infection for the first time, for persons being tested in non-clinical settings, and for those being tested to determine the need for medical referral. Implementation of these recommendations also will improve public health surveillance systems.

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HCV/LabTesting.htm

[ActingBrandNew]

Hello...I am not a doctor...just layman Hep C patient. Based on the information you posted above "HCV antibody is reactive **3.58**"  I would say you tested below all of the s/co's (signal to cutoff ratios) that I am aware of. It all depends on the test you had so I will post the various tests Im aware of with there sc/o's You can identify which one you had and see that you are below. If by chance the test you had is not listed then please post the name as I would like to ad it to my list.


Screening Test

Ortho HCV Version 3.0 ELISA Test System Ortho EIA
(Enzyme Immunoassay)                                                                  ≥ 3.8

Abbott HCV EIA 2.0 Abbott EIA
(Enzyme Immunoassay)                                                           ≥ 3.8

VITROS Anti-HCV Ortho CIA
(Chemiluminescennt Immunoassay)                                         ≥ 8.0

AxSYM Anti-HCV Abbott MEIA
(Microparticle Immunoassay)                                                   ≥ 10.0

Architect Anti-HCV Abbott CMIA
(Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immunoassay)                         ≥ 5.0

Advia Centaur HCV Bayer CIA
(Chemiluminescennt Immunoassay)                                          ≥ 11.0