Key Benefits

• Check current inflammation and immune activity related to HBV, HCV, HIV, or TB.
• Spot ongoing inflammation that prompts targeted HBV/HCV, HIV, or TB evaluation.
• Clarify unexplained fatigue, fevers, or weight loss by flagging inflammatory patterns.
• Flag immune activation or suppression through high or low white blood counts.
• Guide urgency by distinguishing acute flares from stable, chronic disease states.
• Track treatment response by watching CRP, ESR, and WBC trends over time.
• Support pregnancy safety by flagging flare-ups needing prompt review before or during pregnancy.
• Interpret results with viral loads, CD4, TB tests, liver enzymes, and symptoms.

What are Chronic Infection (Hep B/C/HIV/TB)

Biomarker testing for chronic infections—hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, and tuberculosis—turns the biology of a persistent germ into clear signals your clinician can act on. These biomarkers come from three places: the pathogen itself (viral DNA or RNA, proteins/antigens), your immune response (antibodies, cytokines, immune cell patterns), and affected organs (for example, liver injury signals in hepatitis or inflammation markers in TB). Together they show whether an infection is present, whether it is active or controlled, how much replicating pathogen is in the body, how strained the immune system is (CD4 T cells in HIV), and whether organs are being harmed. Reading these signals over time lets clinicians confirm diagnosis, estimate contagiousness, choose and adjust antiviral or antibiotic therapy, and track recovery or progression. In short, chronic infection biomarkers translate invisible microbial activity and host defense into a readable map—helping prevent complications, protect partners and contacts, and personalize care.

Why are Chronic Infection (Hep B/C/HIV/TB) biomarkers important?

Chronic infection biomarkers track how your immune system and organs are coping with long-running infections like hepatitis B or C, HIV, or tuberculosis. Common, system-wide signals include C‑reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood cell count (WBC). Together, they reflect inflammatory load, immune competence, and the stress these infections place on the liver, lungs, blood vessels, and metabolism.

Typical patterns: CRP is usually below about 3, ESR often sits in the low teens for men and under about 20 for women, and WBC tends to fall around 4–11. Health tends to track with CRP and ESR near the low end and a WBC in the middle of its range, indicating calm inflammation with adequate immune reserves.

When values run low, CRP and ESR usually signal minimal systemic inflammation; however, in advanced HIV or severe malnutrition, inflammation can be “muted” despite active disease. A low WBC (leukopenia, including lymphopenia or neutropenia) points to impaired defense—more frequent infections, mouth ulcers, fatigue—and can occur with HIV or advanced liver disease with splenic sequestration. Children normally have higher WBC than adults, and ESR is naturally higher in pregnancy, so lower-than-expected inflammation markers there may be less informative.

When values rise, higher CRP, ESR, and WBC suggest active immune activation—flare of hepatitis, TB reactivation, or bacterial coinfection—with fever, night sweats, cough, jaundice, aching, and fatigue. Persistent elevation links to faster liver scarring, anemia of inflammation, and higher cardiovascular risk, especially in HIV.

Big picture: these markers translate the tug‑of‑war between pathogen and host into measurable signals. Tracked over time alongside disease‑specific tests, they connect immune tone, organ integrity, and long‑term risks such as fibrosis, opportunistic infection, and vascular disease.

What Insights Will I Get?

Chronic infections like hepatitis B/C, HIV, and tuberculosis can drive persistent immune activation that drains energy, shifts metabolism, stresses the cardiovascular system, and impairs cognition and resilience. At Superpower, we test these specific biomarkers: CRP, ESR, WBC to read systemic inflammatory load and immune cell status linked to chronic infection activity.

CRP (C‑reactive protein) is a liver-made acute phase protein that rises with systemic inflammation; it often increases with bacterial processes (e.g., TB) and during hepatitis flares. ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) reflects plasma acute phase proteins that promote red cell stacking; it tends to track longer-lived inflammatory activity and is commonly elevated in TB and other chronic inflammatory states. WBC (white blood cell count) measures circulating leukocytes; it may rise with active infection or fall with immune suppression, as can occur in advanced HIV or marrow stress.

For stability and healthy function, values within many labs’ reference ranges and steady over time suggest low inflammatory burden and preserved immune homeostasis despite exposure risks. Persistently high CRP and ESR indicate ongoing tissue inflammation and higher physiologic strain, warranting closer integration with pathogen-specific testing. A rising WBC suggests active inflammatory drive, while chronically low WBC signals reduced immunologic reserve and vulnerability seen in immunodeficiency.

Notes: Interpretation is affected by pregnancy (raises ESR and often CRP), age (ESR tends to rise), recent illness, vaccination, trauma, or strenuous exercise (transiently raise CRP/WBC), and medications (steroids or immunosuppressants lower CRP/WBC; NSAIDs may lower CRP). Anemia and high fibrinogen elevate ESR. Obesity and smoking raise CRP. Liver dysfunction can blunt CRP production. Assay methods vary across labs.