Is someone a carrier of hepititis C if they have spontaneously cleared the virus?

[magpie266]

Is someone a carrier of hepititis C if they have spontaneously cleared the virus?

I am researching reasons that the armed forces may not accept somene with the above...

help would be appreciated

thanks :o)

[mikesimon]

I have been thinking about the Pham article. If he is right, and I believe that he is, that  Occult/Persistent HCV remains in many, if not the majority, of SVRs then it would be reasonable that hepatitis C antibodies would also remain in SVRs. This may be a significant distinction between those who experience spontaneous recovery and those who achieve SVR following treatment. Now, I am not suggesting or implying that SVR does not confer dramatic benefits because I believe that it does. I do believe, however, that traces of replicating virus remain and exactly how or if that affects  overall health has yet to be determined. I believe that as the sensitivity of viral detection tests improves these issues will come to the forefront and that DoubleDose may finally get some answers to his myriad questions. Mike

[Trish77]

Yes, I was truly referring to Hep B and only as a comparison and that's why I said "I don't know if this is of any help at all"...simply referring to the fact that Hep B antibodies remain in the blood even if you've cleared it and are non-contagious/immune.  So.. all in all, pretty useless information really when she's asking about HCV ....  however I wanted her to distinguish what THEY mean by being a carrier.. if it means being contagious or simply having antibodies of ANY kind.  

[mikesimon]

I don't know whether the absence of antibodies can occur with SVR from treatment. I did find this which seem to support a loss of antibodies after acute infection and recovery. Treatment/SVR was not addressed - only resolution of acute vs chronic HCV.

"In contrast to a detailed understanding of antiviral cellular immune responses, the impact of neutralizing antibodies for the resolution of acute hepatitis C is poorly defined. The analysis of neutralizing responses has been hampered by the fact that patient cohorts as well as hepatitis C virus (HCV) strains are usually heterogeneous, and that clinical data from acute-phase and long-term follow-up after infection are not readily available. Using an infectious retroviral HCV pseudoparticle model system, we studied a cohort of women accidentally exposed to the same HCV strain of known sequence. In this single-source outbreak of hepatitis C, viral clearance was associated with a rapid induction of neutralizing antibodies in the early phase of infection. Neutralizing antibodies decreased or disappeared after recovery from HCV infection. In contrast, chronic HCV infection was characterized by absent or low-titer neutralizing antibodies in the early phase of infection and the persistence of infection despite the induction of cross-neutralizing antibodies in the late phase of infection. These data suggest that rapid induction of neutralizing antibodies during the early phase of infection may contribute to control of HCV infection. This finding may have important implications for understanding the pathogenesis of HCV infection and for the development of novel preventive and therapeutic antiviral strategies."

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1851610

[jmjm530]

Kava Kava has been linked to liver damage. Kava Kava couldn't have brought the virus back if it was truly gone, but it could have caused an enzyme flare which is what you may have experienced. Technically you were "chronic" six months after you were infected via the blood transfusion. Often there are no symptons in either the acute or chronic stage. BTW I had a similar reaction around 4 years ago from some Chinese Herbs of unknown origin, or perhaps the Hep B vaccine -- not sure as I took them at the same time.

-- Jim

[GrandmaA]

What a conincidence I'm part Irish and I was infected in 1977 through a blood transfusion. I only carried antibodie for hep. C, I had no acute or chronic condition until 2 or 3 years later after I took 1 1/2 bottles of kava kava and it brought on the chronic condition. I never had the acute one.

[jmjm530]

"In a study of a cohort of Irish women infected with HCV via contaminated anti-D immunoglobulin in 1977, 47.1% of 68 women who had spontaneous clearance of HCV still had anti-HCV antibodies 18 years after the initial infection."
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/432543 (free Medscape Registration Required"