Anti-HCV Total - a blood test. That is, decoding and treatment

Infectious disease Physicians often prescribe to patients blood Anti hcv total. What is it? The survey is one of the methods of diagnosis of hepatitis C. the Analysis do if you suspect this disease. Sometimes blood tests are done to people that are at risk for hepatitis, the prevention of infection.

What is hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is a disease caused by the virus HCV. The infection is transmitted through blood and sexually. The pathogen infects the cells of the liver, in advanced cases, cirrhosis occurs. Pathology manifested by the following symptoms:

• Weakness and fatigue;
• Abnormal growth of liver tissue;
• Abdominal swelling and enlargement of the spleen;
• Skin and whites of the eyes become yellowish.

The clearly pronounced signs can occur 14 days after the virus enters the body. But often the incubation period is prolonged to six months. Hepatitis is an insidious disease for a long period of time, the patient may not have any complaints. During this period, the virus manages to affect a large part of the hepatic cells.

To identify the disease as early as possible, the doctors give direction to the blood test Anti hcv total. This study gives for the diagnosis? It allows high accuracy to determine the presence of the virus before the appearance of the first symptoms of hepatitis C. This gives you the opportunity to assign treatment as soon as possible until the illness has not yet begun to destroy the liver.

Who administered the test?

First of all, infectious disease specialists prescribe this analysis patients with signs of liver damage to determine the type of disease. This study shows in patients with hepatitis undergoing therapy, to identify the effectiveness of treatment.

In addition, the study is prescribed to people who have an increased risk of infection:

• Persons who have received blood transfusions before the implementation of the mandatory study of the donor for hepatitis C;
• Children born to infected mothers;
• HIV-infected;
• Patients on hemodialysis;
• Health care workers;
• Patients before surgery;
• Patients with abnormalities in the biochemical blood test for bilirubin and liver enzymes;
• People who use (or have employed in the past) drugs in the injection.

Anti hcv total blood test: what is it?

A person infected with the hepatitis C virus, the body forms a special protein compounds (immunoglobulins or antibodies). So the immune system reacts to proteins of the causative agent (antigen). If the pathology hidden flows, antibodies begin to form through 90 days after infection. In acute manifestations of hepatitis antibodies appear 14 days after the appearance of the first symptoms of the disease.

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To Detect immunoglobulins helps study Anti hcv total antibody to the antigens of hepatitis C. In this case it is possible to identify the disease at an early stage. For the analysis take blood from a vein. Then ELISA detects the material immunoglobulins against the virus HCV. A sick person is present in the blood of antibodies of class M and G. in the analysis is determined by their total number. The accuracy of the study - about 90 %.

But antibodies to the virus detected in the blood of patients who recover from hepatitis in the past. They remain after the illness.

In patients with acute form of the disease in the blood immunoglobulins are Antibodies M. G are usually determined in chronic hepatitis or in patients at the stage of recovery.

Other research on hepatitis

In addition to the blood test for Anti hcv total, there are other methods of diagnosis of hepatitis. What these tests are and how accurate they are, consider further.

The Doctor may suspect hepatitis in terms of the analysis on the biochemical composition of blood. Patients have values of bilirubin and hepatic enzymes (AST and ALT) several times more than the norm. But it's not always about the hepatitis. The same data can be observed in severe intoxication. Therefore, only one analysis of the biochemistry are not sufficient for accurate diagnosis of the disease. If there are any abnormalities in the liver indicators the doctor always assigns additional diagnostics, including research on antibodies.

To Detect hepatitis in its early stages helps the blood test method poliestere-chain reaction (PCR). This is currently the most accurate analysis, which is based on the determination of RNA of the pathogen. This diagnostic method allows to calculate the viral load, i.e., the concentration of infections in blood plasma. Such a study may appoint in case of positive blood test for Anti hcv total, that is, when the detection of antibodies. This helps to evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen method of treatment.

Sometimes the PCR does not detect virus RNA, despite the fact that the antibody detected specific immunoglobulins. It happens in patients who have had hepatitis in the past.

How to pass analysis

Thisthe study does not require complex training. However, you should follow some guidelines before performing a blood test Anti hcv total. What are these rules?

1. Researches are always in the morning on an empty stomach. You can only drink clean water.
2. The day before the blood donation excluded from the diet spicy, fatty, sweet, salty meals and alcohol.
3. A few hours before the test you should not smoke.
4. If the patient takes any medicines, it is necessary to warn the doctor about it.

Code analysis

For this study there is no quantitative standards. There are only 2 possible indicators of Anti hcv total analysis - positive and negative. The research results are usually ready in a week, as these sometimes require additional calculations and checks. The form with the indicators required to show your doctor. Only a doctor can correctly interpret the data analysis.

What is a positive blood test Anti hcv total? This means that the patient's blood contains antibodies to hepatitis C. most Often such a result indicates disease, but there are exceptions to this rule.

If the blood test Anti hcv total negative, it indicates the absence of antibodies to hepatitis C. But this does not always mean that a person is healthy.

Negative result

This figure means that currently the patient has not produced antibodies against proteins of the virus of hepatitis C. most Often, this means that the person is not sick. But complacency, lack of antibodies does not mean that the infection was not. If the patient has symptoms from the liver, the doctor will appoint additional researches. A negative result may also occur in human patients in the following cases:

1. A Person infected with hepatitis, but from the time of infection had little time, antibodies not yet produced.
2. There is a seronegative form of hepatitis C, in which immunoglobulins are produced, and these are not.

Therefore, if the patient is concerned about the liver, the survey needs to continue even in case of negative results of the analysis. Perhaps the doctor will prescribe a diagnostic PCR, which will accurately indicate the presence of the virus.

Positive result

A Positive blood test Anti hcv total in most cases indicates infection with hepatitis. Sometimes this may indicate an earlier illness, then a physician should be warned that the patient in the past had hepatitis.

In this result, appoint additional research. There are 6 genotypes of the virus, and treatment of each of them has its own specifics. Therefore, for correct choice of method of therapy conducted the analysis on the genotype of the causative agent.

There Are rare cases when a person is sick, but blood tests Anti hcv total positive. What does it mean? This happens when a serious failure of the immune system. A false positive result of the analysis could be for the following pathologies:

• Autoimmune diseases;
• Tumours
• Infectious diseases.

However, the analysis gives distorted results in exceptional cases. And usually the presence of antibodies tells about the hepatitis b infection. The scheme of treatment of the disease depends on the genotype of a microorganism, but there are General principles of therapy:

• The appointment of antiviral drugs with active components "Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir", as well as drugs based on interferon;
• Liver protecting drugs, e.g. "Essentiale", "Phosphogliv", "Karsil", "Silimar";
• Regular use of immunomodulators "type Zadaxin", "Timogen";
• A diet with restriction of salty, spicy, fatty and fried foods.

If the result of the analysis for antibodies was positive, the doctor diagnosed hepatitis C, do not despair. This is not a sentence. With modern methods of diagnosis and treatment prognosis is favorable in 95% of cases.