You have a high viral load, but it does not affect your liver (hepatitis C virus is outside of the liver as well), but it does not have clinical significance there.
What scale did you determine fibrosis FIB-4? Or is it fibroscan? Can not understand. When this becomes clear you can evaluate your liver condition.
In any case, you need to be treated
Just wanted to add you asked for anormal range for a hep c viral load test. A normal result would show as not detected with no number or maybe something similar to:
less than 15 (<15) “NOT DETECTED”
Any other result means you are infected there isn’t any significance of the specific viral load number.
Hi grateful and congrats on your sobriety that is a fantastic a accomplishment!
Your questions
If my viral load is (>18 million) and my fibrosis score is 4.1, what potential adverse health effects could be associated with another delay in treatment? How do my numbers compare to the majority of similar cases?
Your viral load is on the high side but there have been scores higher than yours. But viral load does not equate to severity of infection.
The longer you delay the more chance that you can cause liver damage or extrahepatic conditions.
Does the climbing viral load have any significant impact on the probability of me developing anything else, such as a secondary infection?
Not sure I understand what you mean by a secondary infection but anyway viral loads often vary and are not related to severity of illness.
Not the viral load, but rather continuing infection puts you are risk of developing liver disease or extrahepatic conditions which are associated with hep c infection. Also you will always be worried about the risk of infecting those close to you.
Is my condition considered a medical disability by SSI?
Are you disabled and cannot work due to hep c or liver disease?
Hep c by itself is not cosidered to be a disability. If you get to having decompensated cirrhosis you might qualify for disability.
What is the viral count range that is considered responsive to treatment?
All viral loads respond to treatment