Hepatitis Forums
Hepatitis C Prevention, Transmission and Testing => Am I Infected? => Topic started by: fd2 on December 30, 2015, 03:30:43 pm
-
Hi,
This may be a silly question but been doing some research online and there seems to be some conflicting info about risk of exposure etc.
Basically the scenario is that whilst out a hep c positive patient had a head injury and was bleeding, as a first aider I went to help but before I had a chance to put gloves on he held my hand/arm and afterwards I noticed he had some blood on his hands from holding his head. It was dried blood and visibly there was nothing on my skin and I had no open wounds/breaks in the skin and then washed my hands before putting gloves on. Iv read on the CDC that there are no reported cases of transmission through unbroken skin but just wanted to put my mind at ease by getting advice/opinions?
Thanks!
-
Hep c transmission requires the blood of someone infected with the virus to have direct contact with the blood stream of an uninfected person. The virus base to have blood to blood contact not blood to skin.
If still concerned you could have a test for hep c antibodies in 6 months and in the very unlikely event you test positive for hep c antibodies you would then be tested for the virus itself with a HCV RNA by PCR or similar. Just to add that even if you should ever test positive for hep c there are not highly effective treatments available which cold be as simple s one pill a day for 8 weeks and you would be cured.
This is from the CDC FAQ for healthcare professionals
http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hcv/hcvfaq.htm
What is the risk for HCV infection from a needlestick exposure to HCV-contaminated blood?
After a needlestick or sharps exposure to HCV-positive blood, the risk of HCV infection is approximately 1.8% (range: 0%–10%).
So even the risk from a needle stick is less than 2%
Basically if you ever get hep c or if you never do, you have nothing to worry about. And you described exposure is very, very low risk.