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)

[jmjm530]

I wonder if something is missing from the translation or just a difference of opinion. The statement "and completely disappearing 10 to 20 years after resolution of hepatitis' seems wrong and seems to need the modifer "in many patients" added -- as did the study you posted some time ago showed and others as well:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/hepatitis/messages/42207.html

[mremeet]

Thanks for that information about the antibody decay, first time I've ever seen something like that. I suppose they're only talking about people who naturally cleared the virus in the study you've referenced? Any word on people who had been chronically infected for many years prior to getting their SVR? Like would they lose their antibodies at the same rate as a naturally cleared person? And also, how do they know that a complete resolution of HCV antibodies may take up to 20 years since the test for HCV hasn't been around that long? In other words, they would have to know exactly when someone was infected before they could start their clock, and since there was no test for HCV in 1980 (this citation was referenced in 2000), and wasn't even widely available in 1990 either, how could they know for certain how long ago some "natural SVR" people had been initially infected?

[l-horn]

is a retired Army Colonel and was head of gastroenteroloy at Walter Reed before going into private practice. He may be able to help you. His name is Shaleish Kadakia and he is now in private practice in San Antonio, Texas.

[mikesimon]

From:
Occult hepatits C virus persistence: identification and characteristics
By Tram N.Q. Pham, PhD, and Tomasz I. Michalak, MD, PhD

Antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) are detectable by commercially available enzyme-linked immunoassays in 50% to 70% of patients at the onset of symptoms,increasing to more than 90% after three months, and completely disappearing 10
to 20 years after resolution of hepatitis.

The reference citation for that statement according to the footnote is:
Takaki A, Wiese M, Maertens G, Depla E, Seifert U, Liebetrau A, Miller JL, Manns
MP, Rehermann B. Cellular immune response persist, humoral responses decrease
two decades after recovery from a single source outbreak of hepatitis C. Nature
Med. 2000;6:578-582

Mike

[jmjm530]

Oh. Then I would ask the Queen :)

[mremeet]

Trish you stated above that "acute" means you "had" the virus but cleared it. An acute infection simply means you are in the early phases of the infection with no regard to whether or not you will clear the virus later (either naturally or via antiviral drug therapy). And as far as "carrier", I've never heard of HCV being referred to that way. Other than simply being chronically infected and being asymptomatic with no liver damage. But whatever, I guess a rose by any other name is still a virus.

magpie - I don't think anyone really knows for sure if the antibodies will last your entire life. Especially considering how young you were when you contracted and then naturally cleared the virus. As the decades roll by, you may eventually no longer test + for HCV antibodies. They do typically decrease over time, just like other antibodies for other viruses or vaccines you may have had. But depending on how old you are now, I seriously doubt they'll test negative within the window of time that you'll be eligible for service.