Laboratory Testing for Hepatitis C

Acute Hepatitis C with Recovery

April 2008

For 25% of individuals infected with Hepatitis C, they follow this typical serologic course which is that of eventual recovery with no long-term sequelae. Here you notice that the symptoms peak at the time of the peak of the serum alanine transaminase levels at about 2-3 months from infection. This is also the time that Hepatitis C Total antibodies become detectable in the blood by the enzyme immunoassay and the chemiluminescence immunoassays that we talked about earlier. Note that the HCV RNA is present in the blood much earlier than the peak of ALT and the appearance of the HCV antibodies, but because the virus does not persist in those who recovered, the RNA disappears by 6 months after infection.

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Acute Hepatitis C with Recovery

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Jump to section:

• Introduction
• Patient Case
• Hepatitis C: Diagnostic Approach
• Acute Hepatitis C with Recovery
• Acute Hepatitis C with Progression to Chronic Infection
• Hepatitis C: Serologic Assays
• HCV Antigens Used in EIAs and CIAs for Detecting HCV Total Antibodies
• Patient Case
• Laboratory Algorithm
• Comparison of PCR, TMA, and bDNA
• Hepatitis C: Molecular Assays
• Hepatitis C: Molecular Tests
• Interpretation of Laboratory Test Results for HCV Infection
• Patient Case
• Hepatitis C: Genotyping Assays
• Patient Case
• Questions?