How Do You Get Tested for Hepatitis C?
Infectious DiseasesHepatitis C

How Do You Get Tested for Hepatitis C?

How Do You Get Tested for Hepatitis C?
Everyday Health
By
Updated on February 4, 2026
by
Hepatitis C is an infection leading to inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). It often goes undiagnosed until serious liver problems develop decades after contracting the virus because the illness is asymptomatic for most people.

There are two main ways Hepatitis C is detected: HCV screenings for blood donations and liver enzyme levels or liver function tests during routine blood work.

Who Should Get Tested for Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood, typically from sharing needles for intravenous drug use. It’s also possible to get the hepatitis C virus through sexual contact, but it’s much less common.

You should get tested for hepatitis C if you:

  • Are age 18 or older
  • Currently use intravenous drugs or have in the past
  • Are pregnant
  • Received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992, when routine blood screenings became available
  • Received a clotting factor concentrate made before 1987
  • Are a hemodialysis patient or ever spent many years on dialysis for kidney failure
  • Were born to an HCV-positive mother
  • Had tattoos or piercings done at an unlicensed or unregulated establishment
  • Are a healthcare worker who has ever been injured by a needle at work
  • Have HIV
  • Have had unprotected sex with multiple partners or someone known to have HCV

How Hepatitis C Is Diagnosed

To determine a hepatitis C diagnosis, your doctor will:

  • Get your medical history (including any history of blood transfusions or intravenous drug use).
  • Perform a physical exam, especially checking for changes in skin color, swelling in your lower extremities, and tenderness in your abdomen.
  • Order certain diagnostic blood tests.
The first diagnostic tool in the screening process is a blood test that screens for HCV antibodies — proteins the body produces in response to the virus.

A negative result for the antibody test could mean you’ve never had HCV in your blood. It could also mean your body hasn’t produced the HCV antibody yet (called a false-negative test), and you may need to be tested again in a few months.

A positive result means you were exposed to the virus at some point in your life. Some people spontaneously clear the virus from their blood within a year of contracting it. However, clearing the hepatitis C virus once doesn’t mean you can’t become reinfected in the future.

If you have a positive antibody test, your doctor will then use another blood sample to conduct a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. This looks for the presence or absence of RNA (genetic material) of HCV in your blood. If HCV RNA is detected, it indicates you have a hepatitis C infection.

Your doctor may also order an HCV RNA test while you’re undergoing treatment to find out if the amount of virus in your blood is decreasing as expected.

Further Hepatitis C Testing

Before recommending a treatment plan, your doctor may conduct an additional blood test to find out what type of HCV you have. The different strains, or genotypes, of HCV respond differently to different treatments.

How Is Liver Damage Assessed?

If you have hepatitis C, doctors can gauge the level of liver damage you've experienced. One useful diagnostic tool is called a hepatic function panel. It involves a group of blood tests performed together that examine the levels of certain liver enzymes, bilirubin (a fluid the body produces when red blood cells break down), and proteins circulating in the blood.

Higher-than-normal levels of the liver enzymes, indicate that your liver is damaged. Albumin may be low, and your total bilirubin levels may also be elevated.

Along with the hepatic function panel, your doctor may also order a few other tests. One test determines the levels of the liver enzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in your blood. An international normalized ratio measures how well your blood clots. Plus, a complete blood count.

Liver biopsies are rare for HCV infection, but they may be considered if there’s concern for a different underlying cause of liver disease. This procedure involves removing a small liver tissue sample and can provide more details about the amount of scarring and damage HCV has caused.

Your doctor may also order an imaging test, such as a computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or ultrasound. This helps check for liver cancer, a possible complication of hepatitis C.

 HIV and Hepatitis B testing are also recommended.

Various imaging tests and liver biopsies are also used to determine if you have cirrhosis. Transient elastography is an imaging modality that maps the elastic properties and stiffness of the liver.

 It’s a noninvasive method for assessing liver fibrosis, the first stage of liver scarring. Cirrhosis develops when the scarring becomes widespread.

For people with liver failure from HCV-related cirrhosis, a liver transplant may be the only real treatment option.

 Those who have liver cirrhosis are at increased risk of developing liver cancer. Chemotherapy, hepatectomy (removing diseased parts of the liver), or liver transplant may be recommended depending on the cancer stage and patient's performance status.

The Takeaway

  • Hepatitis C often goes undiagnosed until serious liver problems occur, which makes early detection through screenings essential.
  • Blood tests are the primary method for detecting hepatitis C infection.
  • Everyone 18 and older should be tested for HCV at least once in their lifetime, regardless of risk factors.
  • Those at higher risk, including people who have used intravenous drugs or received blood transfusions before 1992, should also ensure they’re tested.

Additional reporting by Deborah Shapiro.

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Hepatitis C Basics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. September 2, 2025.
  2. ALT Blood Test. MedlinePlus. November 5, 2024.
  3. Causes, Hepatitis C. National Health Service. October 27, 2021.
  4. HCV Testing and Linkage to Care. American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. October 24, 2022.
  5. Hepatitis C. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. December 2024.
  6. Hepatitis C antibody test. Mayo Clinic. September 03, 2025.
  7. Rzymski P et al. Like a Rolling Stone? A Review on Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus Infection. Viruses. August 30, 2024.
  8. Diagnosing Liver Disease – Liver Biopsy and Liver Function Tests. American Liver Foundation. September 22nd, 2025.
  9. Liver function tests. Mayo Clinic. January 18, 2025.
  10. Liver biopsy. Mayo Clinic. December 14, 2024.
  11. Liver Cancer. Cleveland Clinic. March 18, 2025.
  12. Recommendations for One-Time Hepatitis C Testing. American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. October 24, 2022.
  13. Cirrhosis. MedlinePlus. June 30, 2025.
  14. Treating Hepatitis C: Am I Eligible for Treatment? American Liver Foundation. May 1, 2023.
  15. Treating Liver Cancer. American Cancer Society.
Meet Our Experts
See Our Editorial PolicyMeet Our Health Expert Network
jane-yoon-scott-bio

Jane Yoon Scott, MD

Medical Reviewer

Jane Yoon Scott, MD, is an infectious disease physician and an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Scott enjoys connecting with her patients, empowering them to understand and take ownership of their health, and encouraging them to ask questions so that they can make informed and thoughtful decisions.

She graduated with the highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, then received her MD from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed her internal medicine residency training and chief residency at Temple University Hospital, as well as a fellowship in infectious diseases at Emory University. She is board-certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases.

When she is not seeing patients, Dr. Scott works with neighboring health departments to promote public health, especially to communities that have been historically underserved. She also teaches medical trainees and lectures medical students at the Emory University School of Medicine.

In her free time, Dr. Scott appreciates a good coffee shop, weekend hikes, playing guitar, strolling through cities, sampling restaurants, and traveling to new places.

See full bio

Joseph Bennington-Castro

Author

Joseph Bennington-Castro is a science writer based in Hawaii. He has written well over a thousand articles for the general public on a wide range topics, including health, astronomy, archaeology, renewable energy, biomaterials, conservation, history, animal behavior, artificial intelligence, and many others.

In addition to writing for Everyday Health, Bennington-Castro has also written for publications such as Scientific American, National Geographic online, USA Today, Materials Research Society, Wired UK, Men's Journal, Live Science, Space.com, NBC News Mach, NOAA Fisheries, io9.com, and Discover.

See full bio
See Our Editorial PolicyMeet Our Health Expert Network