A 41-year-old member asked:
can someone explain the hepatitis c rna test?
2 doctor answers • 4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Brett Kalmowitz answered
Gastroenterology 22 years experience
How much virus: This test looks for the amount of circulating hcv is in the blood. It looks specifically at the virus where as a hcv antibody test looks at the body's immune response. We check the antibody to test for prior exposure but follow the viral load (rna test) when someone is on treatment for hcv to see how the medications are affecting the virus and to test for cure.
5814 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
Dr. Jay Park answered
Pediatrics 50 years experience
Confirmatory test: There are individuals who test positive for hepatitis c on screening test without actual infection (false positive). Therefore, anyone who tests positive on screening test requires confirmatory test which actually detects hepatitis c rna.
5792 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
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Similar questions
A 42-year-old member asked:
Hepatitis c RNA test results - a negative means you have no disease?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Joseph Woods answered
Pathology 28 years experience
Can mean no Dis now.: This is apparently an RNA PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test that determines virus particles, or viral load in the body. This can be negative, but if an immunoblot test was positive, it would mean that you had an infection with hepatitis c and it was cleared. If the immunoblot was negative, then you never had an infection, and if you had an immunoassay and it was positive, then it was wrong.
5774 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Joseph Woods commented
Pathology 28 years experience
Provided original answer
Hepatitis C testing typically starts with blood testing to detect the presence of antibodies using an enzyme immunoassay. It takes about 6–8 weeks following infection before the immunoassay will test positive. So that means you should get tested at least at that time to be sure of an accurate result.
Jun 20, 2012
CA
A 28-year-old male asked:
What is the definition or description of: hepatitis C rna?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Larry Lutwick answered
Infectious Disease 49 years experience
The genome, or: Genetic material, of the hepatitis c virus.
5422 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Can someone tell me how long will it take to show hepatitis C rna?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
Dr. Gurmukh Singh answered
Pathology 49 years experience
Unclear question: What is the starting point? It takes a few weeks for hep c infection to become evident.
5146 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
How much time will it take to show hepatitis C rna?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Kristel Hunt answered
Hepatology 23 years experience
6-10 weeks on ave: average.. but can take as long as 6 months.
3896 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
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Last updated Jan 8, 2015
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