Hepatitis C often has no symptoms in those who are infected. If symptoms do occur, they usually consist of jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, possible nausea, and vomiting. Chronic liver disease progresses at a slow rate without symptoms during the first two or more decades after infection. However, chronic liver disease is the tenth leading cause of death among adults in the U.S. and studies show 40 to 60 percent of this disease is related to hepatitis C, resulting in between 8,000 and 10,000 deaths each year. Your doctor may order one or a combination of tests.
Tests can result in both false negative and positive readings.
A false positive means the test looks positive but is really negative, and a false negative means someone has really been infected. This is why it's important to confirm a false positive antibody test with a supplemental test. Antibodies for hepatitis C can be found in 70 percent of people when symptoms begin, and in about nine out of 10 people within three months after symptoms start. Someone treated for clotting problems with a blood product made before 1987, when more advanced methods for manufacturing products were developed. Anyone who received blood and was notified that the blood donor tested positive for hepatitis C. People who had a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant before July of 1992, when better testing became available.