Everything You Need to Know About Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C can cause serious illness and may increase the risk of liver cancer. There are mainly two types of hepatitis - acute and chronic. Acute hepatitis immediately appears and disappears immediately. If it lasts more than 6 months, hepatitis is considered chronic. Slower than usual, there are lighter symptoms. Type C is the most common cause of chronic hepatitis. It can also cause liver cancer or liver cirrhosis. 70% to 80% of hepatitis C patients are lifelong diseases or chronic infections.

The only way to know if you are hepatitis C is to take a test, and you may need multiple exams. A blood test called hepatitis C antibody test can judge whether it has been infected with hepatitis C virus. Antibodies are chemical substances released into the blood when someone is infected. Another test called hepatitis C virus RNA test can determine if you are currently infected with hepatitis C virus. RNA is the genetic material of viruses. Reactive or positive means that hepatitis C antibody was found in the blood and someone was infected with hepatitis C virus at some point. Reactive antibody testing does not necessarily mean hepatitis C When someone is infected, there is always an antibody in their blood. Even if they remove hepatitis C virus

Screening test for hepatitis C virus antibody Blood test screening indicates whether you developed antibodies against hepatitis C virus. Positive antibody test may have been infected with hepatitis C virus at some point. However, if your body is resistant to infection alone or if you are being treated to cure infection, the virus may no longer be in your blood. Hepatitis C RNA test If your antibody test is positive, your doctor will use hepatitis C RNA testing to detect genetic material from RNA - hepatitis C virus -. Hepatitis C RNA testing can show you whether you still have hepatitis C virus and how many viruses are in the blood. This information can help your doctor to treat infections. Your doctor orders this check when you are undergoing treatment to determine if the amount of virus in your blood is changing to determine if you are responding to treatment maybe