Understanding the presence of false-positive antibodies in acute hepatitis.

Although false-positive antibodies (FPAs) have been well described in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), this has not been evaluated in acute viral hepatitis. Patients with acute viral hepatitis underwent antibody testing for other causes of liver disease and sexually transmitted diseases. Those with antibody positivity underwent confirmatory testing and monitoring. Patients with FPAs were compared with patients with acute hepatitis C infection without FPAs. In total 7 of 24 patients (29%) had FPAs. FPAs during acute viral hepatitis are associated with higher IgM levels and higher ESR in acute HCV. This has both mechanistic and clinical implications and should be evaluated further.