Hello Dr,

Please be so kind as to answer the following questions please,

It is my understanding that Hep B is allot more infectious than HIV & Hep C and that it has been found in bodily fluids like sweat etc.

I have the following questions that I would like answered please,

1. Can hep b be transmitted if one is to come into contact with bodily fluids like saliva, sweat etc through modes like skin contact(sweat), saliva through kissing or droplet of saliva in mouth( Don't use each others tooth brushes), or must it be in a purely sexual intercourse or blood to blood, open wound fashion? I have read that the virus can survive out of the body for a while, so is  shaking hands or touching surfaces hep b positive person has touched or bled( I work on construction sites and injuries happen all the time, not talking about pool of blood i mean blood from cuts on hands and leaving smudges behind etc)  and then touching mouth or rubbing eyes?

2. Hep C same as above please?

3. Hiv same as above please?

4. If one has a wound(big or small) that has formed scab be it recently or old does it offer sufficient protection if a hep b, c or hiv positive person was to touch it or if above mentioned scenarios happen?

5. My wife goes for skin treatments and from time to time she has pimples that get ruptured during the treatment while therapist is touching her is this a mode for transmission?

6. According to the antibody test I had done I am Herpes 1 & 2 negative, i know the test is only 70% accurate but let's assume I am negative, we are assuming my wife is herpes 1 positive as she has had fever blisters on her mouth before, in the 10 years that we have been married we have been kissing and practicing oral sex and I have not gotten herpes 1 from her yet based on the blood test and the fact I have not had a fever blister in the 10 years we have been together on my mouth or genitals. What is the mode of transmission for Herpes 1 & 2? Can I still get it?

Thank You in advance!

I am not sure if these question relate to your recent exposure to a waiter's saliva or more direct sexual contact. I will try to answer them but please realize that "what if", hypothetical questions about infectious disease transmission are not very precise or helpful and all too often just tend to worry people.  You are correct that hepatitis B is sexually transmissible and, when compared to HIV appears to be more infectious that HIV.  Hepatitis C sexual transmission however is extraordinarily rare and occurs almost only with receptive rectal intercourse and in those cases is still very rare.  With that, I will address your current questions:

 

1.       Can hep b be transmitted if one is to come into contact with bodily fluids like saliva, sweat etc through modes like skin contact(sweat), saliva through kissing or droplet of saliva in mouth( Don't use each others tooth brushes), or must it be in a purely sexual intercourse or blood to blood, open wound fashion? I have read that the virus can survive out of the body for a while, so is  shaking hands or touching surfaces hep b positive person has touched or bled( I work on construction sites and injuries happen all the time, not talking about pool of blood i mean blood from cuts on hands and leaving smudges behind etc)  and then touching mouth or rubbing eyes?

 

Detection of the virus in oral secretions and other sites is not the same as transmission.  There is no evidence that hepatitis B is transmitted by contact with saliva, sweat or non-genital body secretions.  In fact, oral or non-genital sexual transmission is not even mentioned in the hepatitis B literature.    Similarly, touching an wound/cut or scrape or shaking hands with a person who has hepatitis B is not a known mechanism of transmission.

 

2.       Hep C same as above please?

See my earlier comment 1 as well as my comment about Hepatitis C transmission.  For all practical purposes, at present hepatitis C is transmitted only though injection of blood deep into tissue.

 

3.       Hiv same as above please?

This is a repetitive question which was answered in part in your earlier interaction with me.  HIV in not spread in saliva, sweat, by touching, or by kissing.  It is not spread by touching inanimate objects contaminated with HIV-infected secretions or blood

 

4.       If one has a wound(big or small) that has formed scab be it recently or old does it offer sufficient protection if a hep b, c or hiv positive person was to touch it or if above mentioned scenarios happen?

See comments above.  Touching these sorts of wounds or scabs does not represent a risk for acquisition of hepatitis b, or C or HIV

 

5.       My wife goes for skin treatments and from time to time she has pimples that get ruptured during the treatment while therapist is touching her is this a mode for transmission?

This is a not risk event.

 

6.       According to the antibody test I had done I am Herpes 1& 2 negative, i know the test is only 70% accurate but let's assume I am negative, we are assuming my wife is herpes 1 positive as she has had fever blisters on her mouth before, in the 10 years that we have been married we have been kissing and practicing oral sex and I have not gotten herpes 1 from her yet based on the blood test and the fact I have not had a fever blister in the 10 years we have been together on my mouth or genitals. What is the mode of transmission for Herpes 1 & 2? Can I still get it?

Yes there is still a small risk of you acquiring HSV-1 through kissing or receipt of oral sex.  However, the infectiousness of HSV-1 tends to diminish over time.  In addition, if fever blisters/cold sores are not present, the risk of transmission is low, estimated to be in the neighborhood of less than 1 transmission per 10,000 exposures. 

 

EWH

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Thank you Dr! I am from South-Africa and it is estimated that at least 25% of the population is HIV positive not even talking about other diseases like Hep B etc therefore my vigilance...  Does this in anyway change your assessments on this thread or previous thread?

No, that the prevalence of HIV, as well as many other STIs is high in south Africa in no way changes my earlier assessments for you, nor my advice.  EWH
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Thank you Dr! There seems to be still conflicting information on when to test for what and it appears that here we follow WHO guidelines and not CDC guidelines in your opinion when is the right time to test after an exposure HIV, Hep B &C? We do have 4th gen hiv testing here.

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Thank you for your reply I am not asking these questions based on previous correspondence I am asking for future use if ever needed. Please comment on the HIV testing period.

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