HealthCareMagic is now Ask A Doctor - 24x7 | https://www.askadoctor24x7.com

How Is Hepatits B Transmitted?

Posted on Fri, 28 Nov 2014

Question: Patient ProfileGender: MaleAge: 22Visited a Doctor: NoMedications Tried: N/A
hey doctor,

i m extremely worried that i have been exposed to stds in the following cases.Please let me know the risks.

First of all,i would like to share some details with you.

Age: 22 yrs.

i have taken hepatitis B vaccine when i was a kid.but nothing after that.I m not sure if those hepatitis B vaccine are still effective now at the age of 22.

Incident 1.

I have a habit of chewing my lips.So day before yesterday i cut my lips up so bad that they started bleeding heavily.So i stopped chewing on them.Yesterday at around 12 i again accidently chewed on them and they started bleeding again.

Some fifteen minutes later,i was walking towards a shop when an extremely sick looking person with red eyes waiting to get his medicines in the medical shop spit his saliva and accidently some part of it fell on my lips.

What if this person had bleeding gums which i think is very likely and has stds...his saliva(some little part) fell directly on my lips.

what XXXXXXX the risks of transmitting the following stds:

HIV(extremely worried)

Hepatitis C( extremely worried)

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis A

HPV

HERPES

Syphylis!

please let me know the risk and should i be worried!

i have heard the hep c virus is extremely small and even little drop of blood and saliva can have millions of viruses in it.

please let me know the risk!

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Negligible risk, almost nil

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX
Thanks for writing in to us.

I have read through your query in detail.
Hepatitis B vaccine needs to be taken regularly every 5 years, as you might not have taken a booster dose in last five years, Hepatitis antibodies in you might be in less concentration but not absent. The efficacy of antibodies present can be known only by laboratory testing.

From the above incident, if there was a possibility of droplets from the man falling on your lips, then in 15 minutes time, the bleeding from your chewed lips would have stopped completely and there is no chance of infection transmission.

Research shows that "Hepatitis C was not found in saliva if the person’s viral load was under one million. Additionally, any risk of acquiring infection through salivary contact existed only in the presence of gum disease."

Therefore I do not think you might have got any risk of transmission of above infections from the incident.

The risk of Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Herpes, Syphilis and HPV are also negligible and not a concern.

By negligible risk I mean transmission is less than 1 in 10000 or even less.

Hope this answers your question. Please feel free to correct any oversight in my interpretation of your problems and discuss them in detail as per your requirements.

Hope your query is answered.
Do write back if you have any doubts.

Regards,
Dr.Vivek

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Vivek Chail (1 hour later)

"Hepatitis C was not found in saliva if the person’s viral load was under one million. Additionally, any risk of acquiring infection through salivary contact existed only in the presence of gum disease."
gum disease in me or the the other person who spit...??
should i get tested or continue with my life without worrying about the incident and resume normal life and continue having sex with my girlfriend without worries?And provided his saliva hit the cut on my lip directly and he has all the diseases mentioned(hypothetical situation)

HIV
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis A
HPV
HERPES
Syphylis!

what are the practical chances for each disease(like one in hundredone in thousand)...
let me know the chances for each disease

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Please find details below.

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX
Thanks for writing back with an update.

The earlier reply meant Hepatitis C with gum infection in the person who spit.

You can continue having sex with your girlfriend without any fear of disease but I recommend you have condom sex with her unless you want to start a family.

The individual rates of disease transmission are as follows

HIV less than 1 in 10000
Hepatitis C less than 1 in 10000
Hepatitis B less than 1 in 10000
Hepatitis A Almost Nil
HPV less than 1 in 10000
HERPES less than 1 in 10000
Syphylis Almost nil

The risk is mostly less than 1 in 10000 as there was no skin to skin contact.

Hope your query is answered.
Do write back if you have any doubts.

Regards,
Dr.Vivek

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Vivek Chail (12 hours later)

sO DO YOU THINK I SHOULD GET TESTED OR FORGET THE EPISODE WITHOUT WORRYING?
AND WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL CHANCES OF CATCHING THE MENTIONED STDS?
(THE SPIT WAS JUST A TINY DROPLET)..
AND WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL CHANCES OF CATCHING THE MENTIONED STDS?
HIV(extremely worried)
Hepatitis C( extremely worried)
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis A
HPV
HERPES
Syphylis!

AND SPECIALLY THE "PRACTICAL CHANCES" OF CATCHING HEPATITIS C
AND HIV?

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Please forget the incident and continue with life.

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX
Thanks for writing back with an update.

There is no need to get tested and you can leave the incident behind and continue with your life.

Earlier, on your request I had mentioned the hypothetical chances of infection transmission as less than 1 in 10000.

Practically speaking the chance of getting any of the above infection is nil. A small droplet will not contain enough germs to cause disease through saliva.

Hope your query is answered.
Do write back if you have any doubts.

Regards,
Dr.Vivek

Note: Consult a Sexual Diseases Specialist online for further follow up- Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar