اقتباس:
hepatitis c testing begins with serological blood tests used to detect antibodies to hcv. Anti-hcv antibodies can be detected in 80% of patients within 15 weeks after exposure, in >90% within 5 months after exposure, and in >97% by 6 months after exposure. Overall, hcv antibody tests have a strong positive predictive value for exposure to the hepatitis c virus, but may miss patients who have not yet developed antibodies (seroconversion), or have an insufficient level of antibodies to detect. Rarely, people infected with hcv never develop antibodies to the virus and therefore, never test positive using hcv antibody screening. Because of this possibility, rna testing (see nucleic acid testing methods below) should be considered when antibody testing is negative but suspicion of hepatitis c is high (e.g. Because of elevated transaminases in someone with risk factors for hepatitis c). However, liver function tests alone are not useful in predicting the severity of infection and normal results do not exclude the possibility of liver disease.[28]