Aa
Now I'm told I am hep c negative ???
Well now i'm confused, About a month and a half ago I donated plasma and was notified by mail that there was an abnormality with my blood and I needed to come in. So I did and they told me I tested positive for the hep c in a serum test, The following week they told me a second test confirmed I had hep c. I Went to my doctor fully believing I had hep c so I was tested for a geno type and viral load. I got a call from my doctors nurse telling me "I DO NOT HAVE HEP C". So as you can ee I am totally confused !!!!!!! how did I get 2 positive tests if I am indeed negative??? Has anyone heard of anything similar to this ??
Best Answer
Well, I would insist on copies of all tests and a thorough explanation from your doc, step by step.
You certainly went through a roller coaster of emotions but heck, the outcome is beeee-eautiful.
Antibodies are 100% harmless but if you do indeed test positive for them due to having cleared the virus on your own, you still won't be able to donate blood - just want to give you a heads up not to get alarmed about that.
You don't have the virus, you lucky gal, and it took the real Mccoy test, the HCV RNA PCR to prove it.
Best wishes and celebrate,
Susan
You certainly went through a roller coaster of emotions but heck, the outcome is beeee-eautiful.
Antibodies are 100% harmless but if you do indeed test positive for them due to having cleared the virus on your own, you still won't be able to donate blood - just want to give you a heads up not to get alarmed about that.
You don't have the virus, you lucky gal, and it took the real Mccoy test, the HCV RNA PCR to prove it.
Best wishes and celebrate,
Susan
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A scenario could have been that you initially tested positive for HCV antibodies; this is the first test, usually. Then, if the HCV RIBA was used for confirmation, it could have confirmed exposure, but it doesn’t test for active virus.
The next step would have been a ‘HCV RNA by PCR’ test to check for active virus; around 20% of patients that have been exposed will clear the virus with their own immune response. If this is the case, then you will always test positive for antibodies, but do not have active RNA virus. This doesn’t present a health issue; you wouldn’t be contagious, and no further action would be required on your part.
With guarded congratulations,
Bill