PA exposed to Hep C during procedure-blood work 6mo later

[PACfromPatient]

Hello my story starts with a patient that needed an abscess drained.  I went to inject the abscess with a numbing medicine and after piercing the skin the fluid in the abscess shot into my eye.  The patient did not disclose they had hep C prior to the visit which caused me to be a little less cautious then I should have been.  I know this was my error.  I know I should be treating all cases the same irregardless of the patients condition.

My final blood work test came back abnormal and shows I have been exposed to hep C.  My questions is very broad, what does this mean.  What should I do next?

I've attached copies of the last two tests I had.  My first test was negative and the tests got progressively worse since I was exposed to it.

[Lynn K]

Are you a medical professional?
We are a support forum a chat room for patients dealing with hep c infection and treatment we cannot diagnose a medical condition. The majority of us are lay persons with no medical background. You should discuss your test results with the ordering physician

I had to blow it up to read it on my desktop computer but my best guess at what you have posted it looks like you have had an antibody test that shows positive for antibodies to hep c with a S/Co ratio (signal to cut off ratio) of 1.14

It appears you also had a test for the hep c virus itself the HCV RNA by PCR test which shows as not detected meaning the hep c virus was not detected in your blood test.

In my non medical opinion it look as though you have antibodies to the hep c virus but you appear to not be infected with hep c based on your HCV RNA test that says not detected. If that is the case there is nothing you would need to do you.

There is a statement at the bottom of both pages that is cut off that seems to be related to the hep c results that says "An undetectable viral load and reactive antibody screen suggest...." I expect the second cut off line may explain your result.

It looks like you were also tested for hepatitis B and HIV.

Your HIV test shows as negative. I don't know about Hep B test results but my understanding is they are  more difficult for a lay person to interpret.

What you should do next is ask a doctor for a medical opinion.