Is anyone concerned about family transmission issues? or occult transmission?

[DoubleDose]

This may be an 'off the wall' question for many on the forum, and yes I know that some of you have heard similar questions from me in the past, but I am more curious than ever if anyone is seeing any familiar symptoms in close relations, family members, intimate partners, etc.  I am addressing those who have lived with HCV in the same household with other family members for ten or more years.  

I am aware that there is a research study being done by a prominent hepatologist to explore these issues.  They will be testing tissues, fluids, and other cell structures in HCV negative family members, to determine if there is any indication of some other form of infection.  I have been concerned for more than a few years that there may be another 'mode' of infection that may take place through casual, or intimate contact, and which does not produce the typical blood/liver infection nor does it produce a positive result on HCV blood antibody testing.

Curious symptoms might include things like:

*  Unexplained dry eye, and salivary irritations.
*  Chronic fatigue and unrefreshed sleep, becoming worse over    the years.
*  Abnormal forgetfulness and noticable short term memory problems.
*  Arthritic pains that did not exist in the past, in areas like neck, shoulders, hips, and ribs.
*  A reddish flat rash that occurs on the face around the eyes, and comes and goes for no reason.
*  A chronic sort of allergic state, with inflamed sinuses and throat, and daily throat clearing, year round.
*  New gastric and bowel issues.


Comments Appreciated!

DoubleDose

[GrandOak]

I too was concered about family transmission and found the answer for me was to simply have them tested to know for certain.  

In all cases, praise God, the tests all came back negative as I know it would have caused me great distress to think that I may have been responsible for their infection if any of them had come back positive.

[mikesimon]

I can see how that article would scare anyone but it must be viewed in the broader context of how SVRs do in general. It appears that aside from annecdotal evidence achieving SVR carries with it tremendous benefits notwithstanding the fact that with extremely sensitive detection tools some evidence of HCV can be seen. Liver disease progression is halted and the risk of HCC is drastically reduced in the vast majority of SVRs. I have not seen any evidence of transmission from an SVR either - at least not where it can be detected upon "gross" examination. What is going on deep down in the cellular goop is a matter of conjecture and a subject area ripe for study and investigation but, from an overall health perspective, SVR appears durable and its benefits durable and for most of us that's enough. Problems can and do occasionally arise when our immune system is tampered with but that shouldn't be an issue for the overwhelming majority of us here. I feel a whole lot better being an SVR even though I do have some issues resulting from my immunocompromised situation. But, my liver architecture is pretty good and one hell of a lot better than it would be had I not achieved serum clearance or SVR. In conclusion SVR is a great place to be for anyone infected with HCV and all the rest of this stuff is, for most SVRs, purely academic. Good luck. Mike

[can-do-man]

Married 27 years and wife is negative. My thoughts are her  chronic nagging keeps the HCV away. JMHO

[Kalio1]

What I understand from the occult studies is even though they have found evidence of the virus, there is no manifestation of medical issues related to that. They aren't sick. They aren't experiencing any ongoing health damage.


The studies are hard to interpret. To me it seems that for most who achieve SVR and remain healthy being able to find evidence of occult virus is nothing more dangerous than being able to find "occult" virus of past childhood illnesses.

My question is if you were to develop some new dramatic illness, is it possible for that amount of "occult" virus to reactivate?

[mikesimon]

From Tram:
"On the other hand, virus persisting at very
low levels may provide a means for reactivation of infection
when the host

[DoubleDose]

Kalio:
When you say 'finding the occult viruses of past childhood illnesses' I think you are confusing 'antibodies to viruses' with actual viruses from childhood.  The evidence of viruses from old infections is just the (harmless) antibodies to those prior infections, which often remain for life.....not living, replicating viruses.

With 'occult HCV' on the other hand, there is actual replicating virus present, just a lack of antibodies that would let us know that the virus is there.  What these researchers are looking for is actual replicating virus in various tissues and fluids.  They do not know what the possible ramifications of this sort of low level 'hidden virus' might be.  If it is happening, no one has yet determined that it is either harmless or harmful, yet.  That is what they are also going to be looking at.  

I personally feel that a study of this sort will be very enlightening, and will help us all either feel much easier about the possibility of casual transmission, OR...will cause greater concerns.  Whatever the outcome, I want to know the facts.  Good research will uncover them.  

Revenire:
Have you ever been concerned about these familial symptoms, or connected them to a potential HCV cause?  I was initially thrilled when my family tested negative for HCV, on multiple occasions....but then, seeing the ongoing symptoms, and hearing about studies like those mentioned above, I began to be much more skeptical, and concerned.  I am not jumping to conclusions, or being an unwarranted alarmist, but just reacting with suspiscion to my ongoing observations.  I would love to find that my fears are totally unfounded.  Remember, if this tissue related, localized infection does exist, it will probably be held in check just like an SVR, and will probably never become a full blown HCV blood infection, barring some immune system disaster.  But it would also probably never be detected on typical blood/antibody testing, since there never was a blood borne, or acute HCV infection to produce the antibodies in the blood.  This is why the study is looking at fluids and cell tissues...to see if the virus is there replicating, in isolation.
I am very curious about the findings.

DoubleDose