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789911 tn?1368636783

son asked to come back for 2nd test

Is it normal if you have +AB test and -VL to come back in a month for a retake?  My son has been requested to do this?  
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Avatar universal
Hmmmm. seems like they have a few good plaxes in S Dakota.
                  

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L C M Pathologists Pc  
Sioux Falls, SDGeib Elston & Frost Professional Association (Clinical Laboratory Of The Bla)  
Rapid City, SDMedical Xray Center, P C  
Sioux Falls, SDPhysicians Laboratory, Ltd  
Sioux Falls, SDPrairie Imaging Services Po  
Mission Hill, SDIdentity Genetics, Inc  
Brookings, SDMitchell Diagnostics, Ltd  
Mitchell, SDDiagnostic Vascular Center, Inc  
Sioux Falls, SDPeters Distributing, Inc (Safe-N-Secure)
Sioux Falls, SDClinical Laboratories Of The Midwest  
Sioux Falls, SDNuclear Diagnosis Llc  
Spearfish, SDCardiovascular Institute (South Dkota Hlth Res Fundation)
Sioux Falls, SDUsd Dept Of Lab Medicine  
Sioux Falls, SDDakota Draw Station  
Brookings, SDRevillo Clinic Avera Health (Revillo Clnic-St Bernards Hosp)
Revillo, SDSioux Valley Clinical Laboratories  
Rapid City, SDLabcorp  
Rapid City, SDMobile Neurodiagnostic Services Inc  
Sioux Falls, SDSioux Falls Open Mri Llc  
Sioux Falls, SDClinical Lab Of Black Hills  
Pierre, SDPeacock Imaging, Inc  
Mobridge, SDOccupational Testing Inc  
Sioux Falls, SDWatertown Pathology  
Watertown, SDMedicapp Pharmacy 394  
Hartford, SDKevin Nuttbrock  
Pierre, SDKaren Giroux  
Eagle Butte, SDSteckelberg, Lyndsie  
Chamberlain, SDLeanne M Olivier  
Chamberlain, SDRay Anderson (Anderson Imaging)
Sturgis, SDNorris, Berdina  
Eagle Butte, SDCherie Kessler  
Mobridge, SDTrista L Kourt  
Wagner, SDPatricia J Foote  
Dupree, SDRachel M Marts (Marts)
Bonesteel, SDUniversity Physicians (Usdsm Clinical Virology Lab)  
Sioux Falls, SD

"I beleive that's exactly what I said, retest, and do not agree to treatment based on one test only. "
......................................
Actually I didn't read the rest of your post. I find them a bit hard to get through.

Helpful - 0
233616 tn?1312787196
>>>>>>>>Actually merrybe, the PCR often detects virus in a newly exposed patient much more quickly than antibodies form. Your reason is not at all accurate.

that depends on patient response and lab antiquity. With a very small exposure it could be longer than a month before testing would reveal the exposure, and especially if using old exquipment. There's a vast difference in equipment in say New York or LA comparitive to say rural outh Dakota. It's not like every municipality is operating with state of art equipment.

>>>>>>>>It is always wise to repeat a test that is not definitive as it may be a contaminated sample or a mistake on the lab's part.

I beleive that's exactly what I said, retest, and do not agree to treatment based on one test only.

mb
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Avatar universal
1. if someone were recently infected they might not yet have detectable virus as some tests are not as accurate as others this is still a problem. Outdated machines that only detect >50   or 50 virons or above, can miss a new infection.
...............................................
Actually merrybe, the PCR often detects virus in a newly exposed patient much more quickly than antibodies form. Your reason is not at all accurate.

It is always wise to repeat a test that is not definitive as it may be a contaminated sample or a mistake on the lab's part.
Helpful - 0
233616 tn?1312787196
yes, but the reason is threefold.
1. if someone were recently infected they might not yet have detectable virus as some tests are not as accurate as others this is still a problem. Outdated machines that only detect >50   or 50 virons or above, can miss a new infection.
2. often one can get a false positive. Either because of machine/slide contamination or human error. So no VL (viral load) means it need checking again to rule that out. IF he has a true positive then the current RNA testing should be able to pick up that genetic material. The fact that they cannot isolate any detectable viral RNA signiture calls the simple antibody test entirely into question. One should never treat for HCV without detectable virus.
3. Your son could have been exposed at any time to a minute amount of the virus and cleared or fought it off on his own. In this case no virus would be detectable, but he will carry the antibody marker (the positive) for life. Again no need to treat, he would have cleared the virus on his own, which 15-20% of those exposed actually do do. One benefit of a healthy immune system.

These answers are a paraphrase of Hepatitis Researcher, a doctor in this forum who invented the machines that detect this virus.
Ergo I would not worry prematurely. My son had a positive test followed by more sensitive testing >1....and in more sensitive tests NO VL could be detected. Meaning slide contamination was a likely possibility. It's also possible he was exposed at birth, or that he was exposed by the gamma gobulin shot our health department suggested I get him. (gamma gobulin was thought to build immunity and a friend of mine whom we ate with had the disease, so I wanted to protect my son. Now they know that gamma gobulin actually has caused the disease in some, rather than prevent it...especially that given before the virus was even detectible... which is when we got our shots.)

In any case, get more testing or PM me for more links or answers.
Our hepatologist wanted to treat my son, without any Viral Load. Let's just throw 6 months of treatment at him.
NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WRONG answer !!!!!!!!
This treatment is brutal, there no way in hell anyone should treat at ANY age without be 100% certain they have this disease. Knowing what I now know, I would suggest confirming any VL with a second set of labs done at another facility. It's the only way you could almost rule out lab/people errors.

Many people do not have any knowledge of laboratory science.
We are at a stage still where many common lab tests for certain conditions are only accurate or only detect a condition 75% of the time. Things are improving all the time, but how often does your doctor tell you "this lab is only 90 or 65% accurate...answer...almost never!
HCV tests are more accurate than the average, but they are still not outside of the element of human error, of someone being tired and not thouroughly cleaning the machine, or of a slide not bumping up against the one next to it and slurping hundreds of virons onto it in the process... and so no one should start to worry, much less endure chemo therapy based on one inconclusive set of lab tests. IMHO

mb
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