Screening & Diagnosis
What the tests are, what they look for, and what a result — any result — actually means in plain terms.
- 01 The Two Tests and What Each One Finds 4 min Explains the antibody test and the RNA (PCR) test — what each detects, why both exist, and what the difference between them means for how a result is interpreted.
- 02 What a Positive Antibody Result Does — and Does Not — Mean 4 min Addresses a frequent source of confusion: why a positive antibody test is not a diagnosis of current infection, what follow-up testing is for, and why the meaning of the result belongs entirely with a clinician.
- 03 The Window Period, Plainly 3 min Explains what a window period is — why tests taken very soon after a possible exposure may not detect infection even if it is present — in plain biological terms.
- 04 Who Decides Whether to Test, and How 3 min Describes how testing decisions are made in general clinical terms — who initiates testing, in what contexts screening is commonly offered — without framing it as a recommendation or self-assessment.
- 05 Reading a Result Letter Without a Dictionary 6 min A practical walk-through of the terms that appear on hepatitis C result letters — genotype, viral load, reactive, detected — defined plainly and in context.