Re: Weird hepatitis B test results

David Rind wrote:

> People who cleared hep B a long time ago frequently lose
> the surface antibody and thus show core antibody as their
> only remaining marker.

How long might "a long time ago" be in this context? Five years?
20 years? More?

> This is incredibly common in people infected with HIV (it
> may be the most common hep B serologic pattern in HIV),
> but happens frequently in people without HIV as well.

AFAIK, I don't have HIV. Amongst many other things, if I had had
HIV in 2001, presumably the blood bank would have detected it in
my donation and told me -- and I would presumably also be very,
VERY ill by now.

Rich Wales richw@xxxxxxxxx http://www.richw.org
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. My comments are for discussion pur-
poses only and are not intended to be relied upon as medical advice.

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