Whats the difference?

I was just recently told I have hep C but it's only the antibody. Whats the difference between the antibody and the virus? My antibodies are very low like 8 thousand some. My new Dr. told me that I didnt need any lind of treatments b/c I have the antibody and my liver is perfectly normal. I just found out on 10-20-09 that my test was + but I was a herion user back in 2000 and have been clean since but never used needles. So why now is my test +.. I don't know a lot about hep c but I have been reading a lot about it.. If anyone can give some advise I sure would like some,

[Bill1954]

If you are antibody positive only, you don’t have anything to be concerned with. You will be unable to donate blood or be an organ donor to the general public; although you might be able to donate organs to other Hep C positive patients; discuss this with your doctor. Things like life insurance might be difficult to obtain as well.

Antibodies are produced by our own immune system in response to a disease; in this case, Hep C.

You probably now have antibodies to previous cases of influenza, and perhaps childhood diseases that you acquired many years ago; they do not harm you, and in some cases provide immunity to the disease, so you won’t be susceptible to it again. Measles and mumps are good examples of protective antibodies.

A certain percentage (~15%) of people that contract HCV will then clear the virus in the first six months of infection; this leaves the patient with antibodies, but the virus has been defeated. This is most likely the case with you.

On the other hand, if you test positive for HCV RNA, then this is a different story; you would have active Hep C. If you are concerned, ask your doctor what your ‘HCV RNA’ status is; the antibodies will only suggest previous exposure.

For more info on this subject, refer to the following pages:

http://janis7hepc.com/have_you_been_just_diagnosed.htm

Good luck—

Bill

[IAmTheWalrus]

The positive antibody test just means that your immune system has been exposed to the hepatitis C virus. Follow-on testing for the virus' RNA determines whether or not you have the disease as Bill pointed out.

The reason you test positive on the antibody test may or may not have anything to do with your previous heroin use. You could have been exposed in a number of ways. Sharing of needles among IV drug users in the most common vector of transmission, but not the only means of acquiring hep C. There is no way to tell for certain how you were exposed, just guesswork based on known risk factors. Since hep C is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact, IV drug use with shared paraphenalia is a common source. Other sources are blood transfusions (before testing was introduced to protect the blood supply), medical/dental procedures ot tatoos or piercings where proper hygiene/sterilization standards were not observed.