Occult Hep C

[bp9191]

I have been reading the scant literature about Occult Hep C ( people who test positive on the Anti- Hep C antibody test, and Negative on the RNA PCR test but harbor the virus in their liver cells).

It appears without a liver biopsy, one cannot rule out occult hep C.

So, I am trying ( without success ) to determine if the Anti-Hep C antibody test can be cross reactive with other antibodies ( either IgM or IgG from other infections  ) and therefore be false positive for Hep C..........

Or,
I'd like to know how Long an actual Hep C antibody can live... maybe there's no actual research on this. The Irish study told of antibodies that were 20 something years old.. but I have not read about any living for over 40 years.

I do under stand how memory B & T cells pass their memories of past infections on to their progeny... and the anti-Hep C test does not test for these cells (it tests for actual antibodies).

Thanks for any info.
bp9191

[Lynn K]

Antibodies are produced by your body when it was fighting hep c. Once exposed to hep c you will always test positive for the antibodies to the virus.

For example if you either ever had the measles or were vaccinated against the measles your body produced antibodies to the virus to prevent future infection by the measles virus. Antibodies are a part of you part of your immune systems defenses.

Unfortunately the hep c virus is hard to eradicate and our bodies often cannot defeated the virus but a lucky approximately 25 % are able to beat the virus on their own without taking medicines.

But once exposed you will forever test positive for antibodies to hepatitis c

I hope that helps

[Lynn K]

http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/hepatitis-c-antibody#2

The Hepatitis C Antibody Test

The first test doctors usually order is the hepatitis C antibody test.

When harmful foreign agents like bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses enter the human body, the body’s immune system makes special proteins. These are called antibodies. The human body makes millions of different antibodies, each tailored to fight millions of different invaders.

The antibodies try to neutralize or destroy the foreign invader before it can do harm. The hepatitis C antibody test looks for hepatitis C antibodies in the bloodstream. If they’re present, so is the virus. However, it doesn’t prove there’s an active, current infection.

How Do Antibodies Fight Harmful Invaders?

Hepatitis C antibodies are made by blood plasma cells to attack only the hepatitis C virus. They bind to it and set it up for attack by other parts of the immune system.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up to a quarter of the people who are infected by the hepatitis C virus clear it from their bodies without treatment. Others will develop liver scarring that will progress to cirrhosis (a state where the liver is so scarred it can barely function), liver failure, or liver cancer over time.