Hepatitis C Main Forums > I Just Tested Positive for Hepatitis C

Just tested positive: In complete shock and disbelief. How?

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David0045:
Hi everyone,

I am very new to this forum and since two days ago, I learned that I tested positive for HCV after an antibody test. I already deal with anxiety so learning this news has really put me over the edge in terms of my anxiety levels; I have been shaking, dealing with insomnia, and have been unable to eat since hearing this news. I am devastated to say the least. Needless to say, the phone call was quite a daunting experience. I never would have thought I would be Hep C positive. All my other test results for other STDs/HIV came back negative.

A little history about me, I am a 24 year old straight male student with zero history of drug use with no tattoos and no blood transfusions. I have had two sexual partners in my life of whom to my knowledge are not Hep C positive. I have read that it's almost impossible (but not entirely) to contract Hep C from sexual intercourse. I've lived with my parents and grandparents in the same household for the entirety of my life...none of them are Hep C positive, as far as I know.

What's really confusing is, I donated blood to the blood bank in June of 2018 and my blood was cleared for donation. No Hep C positive result was shown to me. If I can recall, the standard procedure for blood banks (if anything in the blood was detected) would be to notify the donor via mail. I never received any mail of that sort; in fact they still call me several times a year asking me for blood donations, so I'm only assuming that according to their database, I am Hep C negative. My conclusion is that I probably contracted it some time between June 2018 and Jan 2020.

I am just here to look for emotional support and some advice as to my course of action here. The clinic I got tested at that called me about my positive result ordered a secondary test to confirm the results. What are the chances that the initial result was really a false positive? I put myself in the category of extremely low risk considering my past history. Are false positives a common occurrence?

Thank you very much! This forum seems to be incredibly informative and helpful!

Lynn K:
Since the blood bank has not notified you I would consider the possibility of a false positive on this test. Was this one of those kits or did you go to a lab? Why did your doctor order this test?

My suggestion would be to have your doctor order a new HCV antibody test and if still positive have the HCV RNA by PCR test to determine if you are CURRENTLY infected. If you have a good lab test with a positive antibody test and have an HCV RNA test which looks for the presence of the actual virus in your blood and that test is not detected you DO NOT have hepatitis C.

It is possible you had a false positive or that you are not currently infected with the virus and only carry antibodies.

Speak to your doctor about further testing.

David0045:
Hi Lynn K,

Thank you for the detailed and timely response, I greatly appreciate it. My last blood donation from the blood bank was in June of 2018 and they found no traces of HCV antibodies in my blood and my blood was deemed viable for donation.  I have not donated blood in a year and a half.

I’ve never been HIV/STD tested so I thought I’d just walk myself into a clinic two days ago to get tested. The nurse at the clinic asked if I wanted to be tested for Hep C as well and I said “sure why not,” confident that nothing would come up. My other test results all came back negative for other STIs and HIV.

Thank you,
David

Lynn K:
Ok sounds like should have been a good lab source. So next would be to get the HCV RNA by PCR to determine whether or not you are currently infected and will need treatment to eradicate the virus.

I’m still thinking it could be a false positive. What does your lab report say exactly? Did it say a test result like a number a signal to cut off ratio (s/co) a result more than 1.0 is considered positive

David0045:
Unfortunately I do not have the lab results what so ever with me in a digital or physical form. All the nurse told me over the phone was that I was negative for all other STIs and HIV I tested for, but was positive for Hep C. I’m still wondering how this possibly could have happened in the last year and a half since my last blood result. I’ve been told the test that blood banks run are hyper sensitive to Hep C, so if any antibodies were to be detected, it would’ve been reported back in the summer of 2018.

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