follow up q#9632

i got a full panel test yesterday 44 days after those exposures. all ok except for a equivocal hepatitis c antibody.

since my last post i have struggled with trying to quit alcohol and have vomitted ( once quite violently) due to that. my diet has also been terrible and inconsistent.

ive also had a few cold/ flu symptoms last week and in early feburary, could this be a result of hepatitis c or can a cold/flu affect the test to become equivocal? 

i also have taken zinc and buspar for anxiety almost daily, can that affect my liver and this test?

i have a physical appointment with my doctor this monday the 6th, should i try to get any liver screening/ hepatitis c rna tests? what should i ask / watch out for?

Does this change my risks at all, in your professional opinion am i on track to develop hepatitis c and spread it, do equivocal tests go on to become positive, am i one of those rare cases from protected heterosexual contact? im scared and dont know what to do.

As discussed a month ago, you had zero risk exposures for all the infections you are concerned about. I'm sorry you're not feeling well, but happy to hear you're working on resolving your alcohol problem -- although I note you say "trying to quit", so presumably not yet successful. That is far and away the most important health problem you have. You're obviously emotionally focused on the sexual events, but even before the latest test results, it was clear you have absolutely no infections from them.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is not transmitted by vaginal or oral sex. Although many online sources describe HCV as sexually transmitted, and testing often is included in "comprehensive" STD testing panels, the only documented sexual transmission occurs in men having traumatic (i.e. potentially bloody) anal sex practices with other men. The male or female sex partners of HCV infected people have no higher chance of hepatitis C than anyone else. (One now famous analysis calculated that the risk from unprotected vaginal sex, if one partner is infected, is one chance in 190,000. That's equivalent to vaginal sex with an infected partner once daily for 520 years before transmission might be expected.)

And no, cold/flu symptoms are not caused by hepatitis C; and no, these symptoms have no effect on the test results. You're doing exactly the right thing in seeing your doctor about the equivocal test result. You should not request any particular tests; just follow his or her advice about further testing, either for HCV itself or to evaluation your liver function. Most likely it will turn out you do not have it. If you do, it isn't from the events you described in your previous forum thread. (You might expect some alcohol-related liver abnormalities.) 

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

All the other tests mentioned indeed were conclusive at 44 days. Your partner's symptoms have nothing to do with that exposure.

That concludes this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful. Best wishes and stay safe. And stop worrying about hep C.