Dried Blood Exposure

[worried83]

Hi,

I have a question regarding my daughter being exposed to dried blood.
We were travelling on a ferry and my daughter was sitting beside the window.
There was dried blood along the side of her seat (which my husband or myself didn't see till later). My daughter would have made contact with this dried blood with her hands (no open sores). However, being three years old, she picks her nose and she also is always putting her hands in her mouth.
My questions is, should I be getting my daughter tested for HEP C? I'm very concerned for her and I feel terrible that I didn't see this prior to her sitting in that seat.

Thank you.

[Mugwump]

Dried blood is not as much a concern as blood that is still wet. Exposure to oxygen destroys the encapsulation of HCV rendering it inert over time. It is when the virus stays in a hydrated state without exposure to the air that it is still dangerous.


Also unless your daughter has compromised membranes the chances of an exposure that could result in an infection are very slight. HCV unlike HBC and HAV is not known to transmit in this fashion so I would be much more concerned about Hep B or A exposure and if you do test your daughter check for those infections.


An initial infection with HCV will not be detectable until the infected individual develops antibodies and in the case of HCV this does not happen immediately and best guess is that those who are infected will not be detectable for antibodies for at least 3 months post exposure.


Yes what you experienced is scary indeed. I am a father who had HCV and never infected my child and I am sure over the years she must have been exposed to at least inert virus rna, because no matter how careful you are even your tears are toxic when you have HCV.


For many years my daughter as a child was scared about having needles because of an incident with our family doctor when she was 2 years old. He had the bedside manor of a cretin and we should have changed doctors, he was terrible and scared the hell out of children.


So from 1993 when I was diagnosed with HCV until she finally got over her childhood fears of needles at the age of 20 in 2003 I had no way of knowing whether or not I had accidentally infected her!


I lived in terror all those years. Even though my wife has tested negative yearly after we found out that I had the disease.


Today my daughter is married and expecting our first grandchild and is HCV antibody negative as is my loving wife.


Please spread the truth about how this disease spreads. As a loving father I can fully understand your unfounded fears about exposure to HCV.


All the best
Eric

[worried83]

Thank you so much for your reply. You have put me at ease. I will still mention this incident to our doctor when we see her next.
I really appreciate that you took the time to respond.
I wish you and your expanding family health and happiness! A new grand baby - how exciting!! Congrats!

[Patty]

Hello worried83
I'm a retired dental Asstant over 24 yrs. Having to do OSHA continuing education every yr I would like to inform you that Hep-C can only be transmitted by blood to blood contact or trough sex which is usually less than 4%. However I still recommend those who have hep-c to use protection. The Hep-C virus can live on a dry surface for up to 15hrs. Yes that is correct 15 hours. However unless you have blood to blood contact you will not be infected, it has to pass into the blood stream. Hep-C is NOT spread by any other body fluids , just blood. So if you don't have an open wound you will not be infected. You can not get it from kissing someone or by drinking after someone or by eating after someone. Only by blood to blood contact. You should never share toothbrush or razors or needles and always where gloves when working on or helping to put a band aid on a person with hep-c.  I would tell your child's Drs and ask them to run any blood test they might think is necessary however unless she had an open wound she would not have gotten it. But could have been exposed to someother other nasty things. Hep-C virus will not show up in the system for at least 3 to 4 months after exposure. I have Hep-C that I got from a pt I worked on. I have had my family members tested every year as a precaution and my razor and toothbrush are different from everyone else and has my name on them. My family has never been exposed and always test negative. My son who is an adult now has been a long time blood donor for he has a very rare blood type and is always throughly ck every few months because of me. Which is good, I'm glad to see they test the blood so carefully now for many yrs they did not and people were unknowing exposed. I hope this helps ease you mind and also gives you some good info. The more people know and the more informed we are the better.