TOPIC: Newly diagnosed - UK

Noted raised ALT on a routine blood test around 8 weeks ago.
USG - NAD.
HepC - PCR came back positive with a very high viral load of 50L.
GP have referred me to hepatology.
I am anxiously waiting for the appointment.

I am wondering whether there is any option to get the monitoring and blood tests done privately in the UK.
This is in case there is a huge waiting list to see the specialist.

Hi acidicleo123, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. The good news is that there is now very effective treatment for Hep C. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs, such as Epclusa) deliver a cure rate of over 95% on the first try. No need to worry about your viral load, strange as it may seem, it has very little correlation to either cure rate or liver damage. You can read this blog post by FixHepC's founder Dr. James Freeman to learn more about that.

Regarding options to get the blood tests done privately in the UK, hopefully a UK forum member will answer your question. All the best to you, hopefully your treatment will be quick and simple.

Many thanks..
That blog was really reassuring..
I am waiting for hepatology appointment...Hope it comes soon...

acidicleo123 wrote:
I have got a hepatology appointment on 19th October.
Hope they will be able to start treatment without too much delay in completing investigations like fibroscans.

Can I ask a purely academic doubt?
I had blood transfusion from a relative (in India) more than 10 years ago.

Later found out that he had HCV G1 and the transfused blood was not screened for HCV.
I was thinking I got from that source.
However my HCV is G5.

So is it likely that I had it from a different source?
Or can you have a different genotype to the one injected to your body?


Is it possibl

Hi Acidicleo123, best of luck on your appointment. Dr James has answered a similar question in another thread, you can read his post here.

many thanks...