New assays are available to measure tiny amounts of HCV RNA, but these are only used in research. After SVR there may be residual virus, but the body's autoimmune system can cope with this. There is still debate after persisting reservoirs of virus in some cells and tissues.
For this reason, SVR's cannot donate blood and the usual advise is to practise the same precautions as before. There are no recent papers and you may have seen this link:
Do you need to disclose to anyone anymore? I keep finding conflicting answers but most are from like 2009. I'm thinking there might be better tests measuring smaller amts of virus in the blood by now and also triple therapy came since then so.... This is driving me nuts
I wouldnt
Hi Nicole,
New assays are available to measure tiny amounts of HCV RNA, but these are only used in research. After SVR there may be residual virus, but the body's autoimmune system can cope with this. There is still debate after persisting reservoirs of virus in some cells and tissues.
For this reason, SVR's cannot donate blood and the usual advise is to practise the same precautions as before. There are no recent papers and you may have seen this link:
http://www.hepctrust.org.uk/News_Resources/news/2009/January/Hepatitis+C+Virus+May+Persist+at+Low+Levels+after+Sustained+Response+to+Treatment+Liver+Cancer+May+D