My husband has a friend, actually more of acquaintance, who has Hepatits C. Over the last couple of months he has been at our house numerous times. My question is this : Is it safe for my three young kids to be around him and play with him? I don’t want to endanger my kids, but of course I don’t want to treat this guy disrespectfully. I have heard and read differing opinions about it. My mother-in-law is an RN, but I can’t ask her because I have assured my own mother (“chicken little”) that no, this is not the same guy who has Hep C, even though he has the same name. No, totally a different guy, Mom.
Would body fluids have to be exchanged? Could my 2 year old get it from sitting on his lap while he reads her Barney book to her? He really likes the kids and they really like him. I would hate to have to tell him to beat it if it’s possible he could transmit it to them, but I would hate it even worse if my kids ended up with a serious illness.
I’m not too good at codes, so the short answer is, it’s primarily blood borne, or by sexual contact. The chances of transmission by casual contact are slim.
Apparently not easily spread sexually, either. Cecil also wrote a column about Hep C last year. Look in the archives here on the site. www.cdc.gov is a good resource, though.
It’s alright jane, I was wondering this myself lately. A guy we have known for a long time says he now has some liver disease & won’t say what it is. He came by once & looked like really pale. He is in his 40’s.
Won’t say a thing about what he has. I wonder what else it could be?
Hep C is primarily a blood borne disease. It’s insidious because even though you are infected, the major symptoms (severe liver disease) may not appear for upwards of twenty years. The person is infectious that entire time.
Now, the better news. Household partners are in essentially NO DANGER. Don’t do anything that transfers blood from on to another (sharing razors or toothbrushes (ugh), etc.) and you’ll be fine. Hugging, kissing, or other similar activities are ok.
Also, the literature points toward monogmous partners as being safe in terms of unprotected sex. Jury is still out on this but it is nice to know.
Wow, Germ Boy! Aren’t you a convenient one to have around.
Sounds pretty ominous, handy. I just found out that apparently this guy is a reformed junkie, a year or so too late. He says he’s going to get a tattoo and tell his family he contracted it that way because the’ll disown him if they know the truth. I don’t know what else the guy you know could have, but I wouldn’t let him bleed on me or anything if I were you.
I became really worried when my husband reminded me that his mom (the aforementioned RN) had to go through testing last year because for some reason she was concerned she had caught it from a patient. It turned out to be completely unrelated - a hernia or something, I can’t remember.
Well…if he dabbled in the needle trade he could also have HIV and/or Hep B. AS far as the tattoo ruse: might work. Some places use sterile, single-use needles but still draw from a common ink reservoir, viruses like that. If you wanna ink yourself look for a place that uses sterile single-use ink pots.
Ask me all your germ questions, I love to blather and cure misconceptions.
I am not really concerned about the other two (perhaps I should be) because he had a complete physical when he found out the guy he had shared needles with had Hep C. I figure if he’s gonna be honest enough to tell us about the one, why hide anything else?
As for the tattoo thing, I’m beginning to get a little pissed. There’s really only one well-known and established shop in town, and my sister is good friends with the owner. She built and maintains his website. If something like that got out, it could ruin that guy’s livelihood. And besides, he autoclaves EVERYTHING. The shop is immaculate. I have two tattoos and he did one of them, and I watched him like a hawk. My sister and her husband are really into the tattoo/piercing thing, and she’s indignant over this.
Again, Germ Boy - ain’t you handy. I mean, not handy the guy, handy like…well, nevermind. I’m sure you get it.
I am not really concerned about the other two (perhaps I should be) because he had a complete physical when he found out the guy he had shared needles with had Hep C. I figure if he’s gonna be honest enough to tell us about the one, why hide anything else?
As for the tattoo thing, I’m beginning to get a little pissed. There’s really only one well-known and established shop in town, and my sister is good friends with the owner. She built and maintains his website. If something like that got out, it could ruin that guy’s livelihood. And besides, he autoclaves EVERYTHING. The shop is immaculate. I have two tattoos and he did one of them, and I watched him like a hawk. My sister and her husband are really into the tattoo/piercing thing, and she’s indignant over this.
Again, Germ Boy - ain’t you handy. I mean, not handy the guy, handy like…well, nevermind. I’m sure you get it.
I am not really concerned about the other two (perhaps I should be) because he had a complete physical when he found out the guy he had shared needles with had Hep C. I figure if he’s gonna be honest enough to tell us about the one, why hide anything else?
As for the tattoo thing, I’m beginning to get a little pissed. There’s really only one well-known and established shop in town, and my sister is good friends with the owner. She built and maintains his website. If something like that got out, it could ruin that guy’s livelihood. And besides, he autoclaves EVERYTHING. The shop is immaculate. I have two tattoos and he did one of them, and I watched him like a hawk. My sister and her husband are really into the tattoo/piercing thing, and she’s indignant over this.
Again, Germ Boy - ain’t you handy. I mean, not handy the guy, handy like…well, nevermind. I’m sure you get it.
Oh, did I forget to mention that triple posting is an symptom of…well let’s just let it go and presume that you’ll seek professional help when the symptoms peak.
As far as the tattoo saga…if your local artist is srupulous, then indeed, there is nothing to refute. Maybe he ought to call the health dept. for a pre-emptive inspection.
