I was bitten by a woman I was involved with. She bit the upper part of my thigh. She bit me quite hard, it hurt a lot and caught me by surprise at the moment. It did leave a very visible mark and is a little bit sore the day after. It does not seem like it made me bleed, so I think it didn't break my skin although I can't be sure. She seems healthy, with no visible bleeding in her mouth or anything. Although she had a flu. No other risky event happened during my relationship with her.

My questions are:

1- Is this a risky event? Should I get tested for any diseases that could be transmitted by such an event?

2- From what I researched there is a theoretical possibility to get infected by HEP B, Hep C, HIV, and even herpes by a

 human bite. How likely is it that I would get infected by one of these STIs in such an event? Should I be worried?

3- If I were to get tested, how long should I wait to do it? 

4- Can I proceed with my sexual life normally? Or I could be at risk of transmitting something to other people?

5- I only got my first shot of the hep B vaccine 6 days before the event, do I have any protection?

6- Are there any symptoms related to hepatitis I should be on the lookout for? And how much time do symptoms tend to take to show up?

7- I am a bit confused about the ways HEP B and HEP C are transmitted, what kind of sexual behavior should

 I adopt or avoid to be safe?

Thank you so much, I know a lot of my worries are anxiety-driven, and I often refer to your previous answers from other users of the website for my own questions. But this time I could not find much about it.

Thanks again.

You needn't worry about any STI. Human bites can result in infection due to various normal oral bacteria, but they rarely if ever transmit any STI of any kind. In my 45 year career in STI clinical care, I have never seen such a patient or even heard about one from my professional colleagues. And I am unaware of any reports in the scientific medical literature of any STIs transmitted by biting. And without the skin being broken (i.e. no bleeding), you also are at little or no risk for any non-STI infection.

Those comments pretty well answer all your questions, but to be explicit:

1. I recommend no testing of any kind, for STI or anything else.

2. As you say, any risk is theoretical only, with no known events in which STI transmission occurred.

3. It would be a waste of money, time and emotional energy to be tested. If you choose to be tested because you had sex with this partner and worried about her infection status, then the recommended times (after the last possible exposure, i.e. sex not the bite) are 3-4 days for urine testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia, and 6 weeks for conclusive blood testing for HIV (with the AgAb, i.e. 4th generation) test and syphilis; and also 6 weeks if there is any reason to be concerned about hepatitis B. For sure there is no need to test for anything else.

4. You should not make any changes in sex with your regular partner(s) or any other persons on account of the bite.

5. You may be partly protected from hepatitis B virus from your single vaccine dose, but it would be wise to catch up and get re-vaccinated. But not because of the events described here.

6. Symptoms are not useful in judging new hepatitis. Blood testing is necessary to detect most infections. But you have no need for a blood test.

7. First, there are zero risk for hepatitis C virus unless and until you have unprotected anal sex with other men. Contrarly to common belief, the ONLY proved sexual transmission for HCV is potentially traumatic (i.e. blood exposure) anal sex between men. In heterosexual relationships, the ongoing sex partners of HCV infected persons have no higher rate of infection then anyone in the general population. As for hepatitis B virus, it is sexually transmitted only by unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse. And of course if you and/or your partner has been vaccinated, there is no risk at all.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD