concerned!!

[whitson23]

Hello everyone! I am a very unlucky healthcare worker who has had two exposures to blood in three months! First exposure occured at the beginning of January (probably around the 10th). I had a small amount of blood splashed into my rt eye. Patient turned out to be hep c positive with low viral load. About two weeks after the occurence, i found out i was 6wks preg with my first baby. Talk about being terrified and a basket case. I had a hep panel and hiv panel done on jan 19th which revealved absent/negative for Hiv and Antibody for Hep c were 2yrs) and all came back negative. Question is, would this patient have hep antibodies if he has any type of infection now or in the past of a hep infection? His HIV was negative also. Go back to dr for more tests. This time my hep c ab was 0.2 on a scale of 0.0-0.9. i know this is still considered neg but why did it rise from <0.1 to 0.2 in the matter of two months? does this mean that it will continue to rise? Could this mean that i got an infection from one of the patients and the results are too soon to be conclusive? im worried about my baby most of all. please help with any information that you have. thanks!!


This discussion is related to SGOT/SGPT values for HCV infection.

[whitson23]

Thank you so much bill for your quick reply. I feel much better now. So my slight increase inn hep antibodies isnt anything significant that i should be concerned with? Do you think that i would have had antibodies present in march from my first exposure that occured jan 10th? Thanks for everything!

[Bill1954]

Hi there,

The event you describe sounds like a very unlikely source of transmission; however, probably best to have a Hep panel run (like you did) just in case. Yes, if a patient has active, chronic infection either past or present, they will be reactive/positive for HCV antibodies; these will likely be present for life.

The increase in signal to cut-off ratio (<0.1 to 0.2) is insignificant, most likely ‘noise’ involved with test procedure.

If you’re doctor feels it’s indicated, he/she can order a ‘HCV RNA by PCR’ test to check for active viral infection; these tests are relatively expensive, and are only ordered if indicated; not to satisfy personal curiosity. You can discuss this option with your doctor.

Vertical transmission from mother to daughter is rare; statistically it occurs <5% of the time. If you are somehow positive for HCV, they can test the baby at 12-18 months for antibodies; not earlier. This seems unlikely, though. Have fun with your new baby!

Best of luck to you—

Bill