Chances of infection

[MisterEleven]

I have a sister who is a teacher and a classic worrier.. She is concerned that a child in her class was  infected while she was in charge. This child has been diagnosed with juvenile arthritis which my sister thinks was caused by this. Here is the scenario. A quarter size drop of blood was on the floor. Is it possible for a child to touch this blood, put his finger into his eye to scratch it or had a cut on him somewhere and touched the blood, and contract hep c?(This is assuming that the blood came from someone who was infected). Another theory is that the child stepped in this blood, walked a couple of steps, touched his shoe, and did the same thing as above. Please confirm that these scenarios can not cause hepatitis C. Thank you.

[Lynn K]

Hep c is spread by blood to blood contact no research has been conducted on the unusual senario described however even medical persons with accidental needle sticks from known hep c patients the likelihood of transmission is about 2%.

that being said hep c is not very easy to contract and the described situation is highly unlikely. Also it commonly takes decades for hep c to cause enough damage to produce symptoms of much significance beyond being tired

Here is a link about FAQ of hep c for the general public from the  CDC

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/c/cfaq.htm

Here is an article about juvenal arthritis which is an autoimmune disorder being that the bodies immune system attackes itself mistaking the body as a foreign invader having nothing to do with hep c exposure.

http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/juv_arthritis/

Also from Wikipedia

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_arthritis