What would be the reason someone does not get treatment for Hep C

[ajs4647]

My friend who has had Hep C for many years (20) has never been treated for it.  She said she was told that she didint' have to be but I dont recall the exact reason why.   That doesnt makes sense to me. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Trinity4]

It's all about the severity of liver disease.  Minimal liver disease your friend can watch and wait, treat later or never treat.  Or if in some cases people refuse to treat with the available drugs because they think they will suffer more from the drugs that the hepatitis C.  People have choices and what living with hepatitis c means to them.

Trinity

[Bill1954]

Sure, many people choose to coexist with the virus. If liver damage (fibrosis) is negligible, there is really no urgency to undergo therapy. Also, dependent upon genotype, or strain of HCV, the current treatment is only successful in a percentage of patients.

Basically, the amount of fibrosis dictates the need to undergo therapy.

Is your friend certain he/she is infected with active, RNA virus, or only antibody positive? If antibody positive only, there is no active virus involved, and no treatment would be required. A ‘HCV RNA by PCR’ test determines whether active virus is present.

Good luck to your friend—

Bill