# Hepatitis B **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hepatitis-b/195068 "2003-08-14T03:07:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hepatitis-b/195068/1 "2003-08-14T03:07:26Z")
Hoping somebody might know a bit about this disease. My girlfriend informed me today that she was just tested positive for Hepatitis B. Naturally, I’m concerned that I may have contracted it from her, since we don’t know exactly when she became infected. I got some information here: [CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/faqb.htm) > [@](#): > > How do you get hepatitis B? > > You get hepatitis B by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person; for example, you can become infected by having sex or sharing needles with an infected person. A baby can get hepatitis B from an infected mother during childbirth. > > Hepatitis B is not spread through food or water or by casual contact. We have not yet had sexual relations with each other, and neither of us uses intravenous drugs. However, we have kissed quite a bit. Would kissing count as “contact with … bodily fluids”? As I’m a professional cook, I’m glad to see that hepatitis B is not spread through food! I’m going to make an appointment with a doctor tomorrow, but in the meantime I’d like more info, if only to set my mind at ease a bit. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hepatitis-b/195068/2 "2003-08-14T03:48:18Z")
I’ve never heard of a case of HBV being spread through saliva-saliva contact. How old are you? People younger than around 20 (I’m just guessing) were immunized against HBV as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hepatitis-b/195068/3 "2003-08-14T03:53:57Z")
From memory, the transmission rates through saliva is [very low](http://www.schoolnurse.com/med_info/Hepatitis_B_transmission.html). You increase your chances if you both have bleeding gums and/or mouth ulcers. Better get your vacination done pronto. Oh, and it’s not exactly doom and gloom for your gf. There has been a _fairly_ good success rate using Interferon to kick start the body’s immune system. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hepatitis-b/195068/4 "2003-08-14T04:42:10Z")
I’m 37. Never been vaccinated against HBV, as far as I know. My GF just turned 20. She was born in 1983, a year after HBV vaccination became standard, but obviously she must not have gotten her shot. That’s her parents’ fault, of course - and with her stories about the kind of “discipline” she endured as a child, her parents don’t appear to have been especially concerned about her well-being. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that she missed a lot of other shots, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hepatitis-b/195068/5 "2003-08-14T06:54:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by USCDiver \* > \*\*How old are you? People younger than around 20 (I’m just guessing) were immunized against HBV as a child. \*\* I’m 17, and never immunized for Hepatitus B. My parents felt that they wern’t safe. I’ve gotten all my other shots, though. I know other people my age that didn’t get the Hepatitus B shots for the same reasons I didn’t.