 | ||
   | ||
Email
Glossary |
|
are they sure? Feb 10, 2004 i recently tried to donate blood and the red cross sent me a letter that said my blood test was positive for hepitis c how accurate are they? |
||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
| Response from Dr. Wohl
 Doug, Can you field this one. Thanks David Response from Dr. Dieterich The 3rd generation Elisa tests that are used now for blood donation are very sensitive. They are quite accurate for the antibody. However that does not mean that you have the virus. About 20% of people just have the antibody and no virus, meaning that they were exposed and cleared the virus on their own. The next step is to get HCV RNA quantitative testing done by your doctor. Then if positive, genotype and a few other tests. Don't despair, even if you do have it, it is treatable and curable in a majority of patients. Good luck! DTD | ||||||||
 Get Email Notifications When This Forum Updates or Subscribe With RSS
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Q&A TERMS OF USE
This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional.
Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.
Review our complete terms of use and copyright notice.
