I’m far from a doctor or even an expert and all I’ve done is type ‘Hep c Ab <1.00 S/C' into my search engine
So please take this with a grain of salt
But I've found 2 pieces that may indicate a reason to feel positive conjecture rather than negative

Results are calculated as normalized signal-to-cutoff (S/Co) ratios obtained by measuring the signal strength of sample and the signal strength of an internal cutoff. Samples with an S/Co ratio of ≥1.0 are defined by the manufacturer as positive.

Also here on Page 10
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_11_12/HEPC_G_met_Hepatitis_C_antibody_confirmed.pdf

Final VITROS Anti-HCV
Test Result (s/c)
Conclusion from Testing
Algorithm Interpretation
<1.00 Negative Anti-HCV IgG not detected.
Patient is presumed not to be infected with HCV.

>1.00 Reactive Anti-HCV IgG detected. Patient is
presumed to be infected with HCV, state or
associated disease not determined. Follow
CDC recommendations for supplemental testing

Couldn’t find anything on the 33.9 value

Hey mate – I will only answer the parts I know

The drop in AST/ ALT liver enzymes is a very positive sign the drugs are working
Healthy cells in the liver contain these enzymes. When they are damaged they leak these into the blood hence the higher scores.

I’m not sure what your antibody results mean

But I do know that liver clinics won’t, as far as I have experienced, test for viral load
I went for my bloods yesterday and the nurse said (a different nurse this time, but same line)
‘Why would we test for viral load. If you have the virus, the viral load is irrelevant.?’
Well maybe for a psychological benefit to see my VL drop from 11 million to under a million, say, and I could see how well the drugs are working and if I should continue the treatment to 24 weeks.’
‘If this test comes in as hep c negative, then we will assess your options then. Viral loads are very expensive and only allowed 1 or 2 a year and the information is not useful. You don’t need a viral load.’

I know quite a few people who work in, or used to work in the health system
The fact is that while they are monitoring you, they own you
While they are instructed to support generic patients, many do it begrudgingly and they still treat you as though you are their property and you really have to agitate for information
And even then it depends on the individual person you are dealing with

Every person i have dealt with has been quick to give me a hard time for going with treatment before OK’ing it with them.
This was with the liver clinic doctor at Penrith hospital
‘We support the generic treatment. But you’ve gone off and done it before your fibroscan so we have to come in now and sweep up the mess after the fact.’
‘Well just what mess is it you’re sweeping up? I’m a G3 rather than the G1 I thought. But the sof/ dac I am taking is the same for either. And I have got 3 months treatment now and will get another 3. After my fibroscan we can decide if I should continue with the next 3 or not. All I’ve done is access treatment as soon as I could rather than see the door close in my face! So can you explain to me exactly what this mess is that you are cleaning up?’
‘Oh look mate, I’m not having a go at you, but,,,blah blah’
On and on it goes and it just reminds me of the dislike I developed for doctors in particular after my previous interferon/ ribavarin tx.

If you want a viral load you may have to go through Dr Freeman at GP2U – and you are only allowed 2 a year, so he suggests one at the beginning and one at week 8 (pretty sure – I asked him and it’s somewhere on this forum)
You may want to pay the consult fee of $99 I think it is and have a speak to the doc to get a blood script and some info not tainted with bullshit.
One other thing, get him to tick the box that says ‘send a copy to patient’ or something like that. Either that or you will have to get the liver clinic to get the results for you, or get another consult with the doc.

Good luck mate – pity they can’t even tell you what the results mean??
Thankfully we have the generic alternate and Dr Freeman so we only have to put up with this crap as a cheaper option to paying out of your own pocket for scripts and tests.

Blimey
I’ll have a bloody halo around my head by the end of 12 weeks lol

Thanks for this – I had no idea

Do you know the cost of a quantitative test in NSW?

Like you I'm probably going to go 24 anyway, but not add the Riba if that were the case
Reason is that the interferon/ riba previous tx showed that the virus was not detectable
But then they contacted me later and said it had come back
I'd be pretty pissed off if I went for 12 because i showed nil virus and then showed positive later

Thanks Gaj
That’s a bummer
I’ve got about 9 weeks (-4 weeks for delivery) to make a decision
I’ll see how my results go an play it by ear

Just looked at the new pricing
My next course of sof/ dac is down so i can get a course of riba and still be under what it cost previously
Then I can make the decision at week 12 to finish out the 24 including the riba

Dr Freeman gave me a blood script for my viral load
But when I visited the liver clinic for the first time yesterday they said that they don’t test for viral load
Only test to see if the virus is present
My GP (well, the first GP I have seen in 12 years) said the same thing

So I’m just going to go with the flow
if the clinic won’t provide me with the viral load at my next blood test, and i feel like I need to know it
I’ll just go the Dr Freeman GP2U route for a blood script
I’m just taking advice and help wherever I can, and putting my hand in my pocket when I have to (I’m not stingy, just the cost of tx is significant for me)

Anyone have any thoughts on this

I’ve just found out I am geno 3a when I thought I was a G1
I am 3 weeks into Sof/ Dac and committed to 24 weeks (unconfirmed F3)
I’m now considering a hit of Riba in the final 2-4 weeks
(I have used Riba 12 years ago, but a doctor said that I should have no resistance)