Dear @Smart55, thanks again for that additional information. I think the “not confirmed” part is a bit confusing to me and probably still needs some clarification, in particular as the notes mention “Not Confirmed Positive: Specimen repeatedly reactive but not confirmed.” and “The
patient may be evaluated for other serological markers of HBV infection such as total anti-HBc or IgM anti-HBc”.
Hi @BONAPARTE, the viral load itself does not dictate how worried you should be. There are people who have no liver injury with high viral loads or with low viral loads. There needs to be other tests to be carried out to show the state of your liver health.
That said, your viral loads are relatively low, which can indicate slower liver disease progression (but requires other tests to confirm).
As mentioned in the image, a fibroscan result suggests you have liver fibrosis. By EASL guidelines, this (combined with your viral loads) would mean you should consider treatment to prevent further progression.
I am not aware of any evidence that shows diet and exercise can reduce viral load efficiently. The most effective way to reduce your HBV DNA (and liver disease progression) is through antiviral medications.
@ThomasTu@availlant This is my ultrasound before I did my ultrasound did Fibro scan because my viral load is 9022UI/ml. My ultrasound found nothing and is it possible to have fibrosis and not showing abnormality in Ultrasounds. It’s just about 10 weeks apart.
Thank you so much, @ThomasTu. I have one follow up question for you. You mentioned that I would be outside of treatment guidelines unless there was liver damage as measured by fibroscan. My GI didn’t order a fibroscan, he ordered a liver ultrasound, which came back “unremarkable” - normal liver size and echogenicity, no intrahepatic mass or ductal dilation, surface of the liver is smooth. Is this test sufficient or should I also request a fibroscan?
Dear @anonymous36, this would not really be considered an increase because it is so small (and many factors can change this value quite a bit, for example, who is doing the lab test or even how hydrated you are on the day). This sort of difference can be seen even if you run the exact same sample 2 times in the lab. Hope this clarifies things for you.
As mentioned above, my understanding is that fibroscan is more sensitive for fibrosis compared to ultrasound, so that it might be worthwhile asking your doctor about this.
I received an abnormal test after donating blood in January and after further testing with my doctor and then a specialist, was advised yesterday that I have chronic HepB. However, my results seem to be puzzling my doc, so I thought I’d come here and find out if anyone has had similar results and what they mean. I can’t see exact quantities of my results, but they show I am reactive for Core antibody and the HepBe antigen test but non reactive for DNA, HepBe antibody, and core antibody IGM (that one was taken earlier and not pictured here).
I was vaccinated when I was 9 so I am also confused how this came about. I donated blood with no issues until 2017 when I took a pause for grad school. I’ve been in a relationship for 6 months and worried about transmission to him or whether it came from him.
are my test results consistent with chronic hepatitis B?
Given the negative IGM, is it more likely that I’ve had this longer than 6 months?
Thank you for allowing us to ask these questions and creating a space where we can find answers.
Welcome to the community. I just wanted to say Hi and let you know that one of the experts will respond shortly, probably within the next day or two. I’m glad you found us and am sure you’ll find this community a source of support.
Ah, I see. Then the tests you had confirm that there the detection of HBV DNA is likely real. The HBV DNA numbers themselves do not necessarily denote the disease risk (some people have very high viral loads, but not very much liver disease), but you should make sure to remain under monitoring to determine your ongoing liver health.
Thanks for sharing your story and the great questions, @Holly.
To answer both of your questions, being HBsAg-negative is not consistent with chronic HBV infection. Being anti-HBc antibody positive is consistent with prior exposure to the virus that has ended up in clearance. Do you have your anti-HBs antibody test results?
Probably the only odd thing here is being HBeAg-positive (I think most people who clear the virus become HBeAg-negative and anti-HBe positive). It would be great to get some input from some @HealthExperts on this.
