Hepatitis C viral load

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Hepatitis C viral load
Short Description : Hepatitis C PCR
Also known as : [Hepatitis C PCR]

Blood
Test performed by: LabPLUS VIM Molecular Diagnostics

A dedicated specimen (i.e. no other tests to be performed) is required for this assay.

Specimens from the following clinical areas/situations will be accepted:

Gastroenterology

Liver units

Infectious diseases

Sexual Health

Confirmation of HCV infection in a patient with reactive HCV serology (HCV Ab+)

Confirmation of chronic HCV following acute HCV infection

Confirmation of cure 12 weeks post completion of MAVIRET (glecaprevir/pibrentasvir) treatment

Confirmation of HCV reinfection in a patient with previous HCV that was treated/cleared and a new high risk event (i.e. where HCV serology cannot differentiate previous infection from reinfection)

Bone marrow transplant (BMT) donor screening

Healthcare worker post blood and bodily fluid accident (BBFA) from a donor with known HCV

Requests for immigration purposes

Other clinical details which justify HCV Viral Load testing

Quantitative testing for HCV RNA in plasma (HCV Viral Load)
(Note: Qualitative testing for HCV RNA will be performed using the quantitative - Viral Load technology).

A dedicated specimen (i.e. no other tests to be performed) is required for this assay.

Also performed on fresh liver biopsy

Do not use heparin tubes

Viral load results may be adversely affected by delay in transport.

Specimen Collection
All micro collects MUST be EDTA.

2 mL Paediatric Micro-EDTA Blood (Always Required)
4 full microcollect EDTA tubes required.

Must be full containers or there will be insufficient sample to assay

5 mL PPT Blood (Preferred)
Do not freeze unseparated PPT tubes . If the specimen requires freezing, the supernatant must be removed from the gel first.
Require a dedicated PPT tube specimen (no other tests requested).
Centrifuge PPT tube within 6 hours of collection.

Transport at 2 - 8 degrees C if transport time from collection is less than 5 days.

Specimens need to be separated and frozen after 5 days. Unseparated specimens are unsuitable for analysis after this time.

4 mL EDTA Blood
4 mL Plain Blood
8.5 mL SST Blood
Absolute minimum volume required is 3.5 mL

Reference Intervals
Limit of detection for 650 ul sample volume: 15 - 1.0E+08 (log 1.18 - 8.0) HCV DNA IU/mL
Limit of detection for 350 ul sample volume: 40 - 1.0E+08 (log 1.60 - 8.0) HCV RNA IU/mL
Note : Results are expressed as the number of HCV RNA IU/mL and the logarithm of the number of HCV RNA IU/mL.

Uncertainty of Measurement:

+/- 0.1 log copies/ml

Turnaround Time:
Tests performed approximately twice weekly. Results available within a week.

Assay Method

Testing is performed using the Roche cobas 6800 HCV test.

Either 650uL or 350uL of specimen can be used for testing.

HCV Genotyping

Contact Information
Urgent enquiries

In normal working hours (0800-1600 Mon-Fri) contact Clinical Virology via LabLINK (internal extension 22000, external number 09 307 8995).
Outside of normal working hours (evenings and weekends) contact the On Call Clinical Microbiologist via Te Whatu Ora Te Toka Tumai Auckland main switchboard (09 367 0000).

Non-urgent enquiries

Email virology@adhb.govt.nz .

Specimen Transport Instructions for Referring Laboratories

Whole blood in PPT can remain unspun in PPT tubes for no longer than 6hrs at ambient temperature

Within 6 hrs of collection, the tube must be spun at 1100 x g for 20min

On the arrival of PPT tube in virus laboratory, re-centrifuge the PPT tube at 600 x g for 5 minutes prior to aliquoting plasma to the storage tube for further storage in -70 ^o C.

If testing is performed within 5 days, the sample should be stored at 4 ^o C.

If the volume of plasma is less than required amount, transfer collected plasma to a conical microfuge tube prior to 600 x g centrifugation for 5 minutes. Recover remaining plasma without disturbing the pellet.

Other
Test performed by: LabPLUS VIM Molecular Diagnostics

Breast Milk

Must first be discussed with Clinical Virologist

Specimen Collection
20 mL Sterile Container (Always Required)

Last updated at 22:39:58 12/07/2025