[Question #976] Hep C - Hiv - Stds
102 months ago
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1. Last year my 4 years old son asked for a snorkeling mask by another person that we do not know. The other person threw the mask near my son and the mask went at the bottom of the sea. My son took the mask from the bottom of the sea (1 meter depth) and put the snorkel tube in his mouth for a couple of minutes. I know that hiv/syphilis cannot be transmitted by this way. What about hep c and hep b? If there was blood in the snorkel tube from the gums/mouth of the person who may have been using the mask a couple of minutes ago or the previous days, could these diseases have been spread to my son, if he also had blood in his mouth? Since the mask was on the bottom of the sea for only a couple of seconds, would the sea water have efficiently diluted/inactivated any wet or dried blood left on the tube making the transmission impossible or not?
2. Recently I had my blood drawn by a nurse. 10 minutes after I left the lab, the nurse called me and asked me to come back and give some extra blood, because she needed extra quantity to perform the test. I went back (20 minutes after the first blood draw) and the nurse, while trying to find a different vein on my same hand, touched with her hand the puncture wound that had been caused by the needle 20 minutes before (I had already taken of the plaster). I noticed that her hand may have had some small cracks or it may had been a little red, without though noticing any visible blood. Could this contact with my 20 minutes old puncture wound have transmitted hiv / hep c / hep b or syphilis?
3. Searching reputable sites on the web, I have noticed that they mention that hep b/c can live for days on inaminate objects, while you mention that these virus die immediately outside the body. Can you confirm or explain?
I know that both scenarios are pretty unrealistic, but I want to ease my anxiety based on scientific data.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
102 months ago
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102 months ago
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102 months ago
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![]() |
H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
102 months ago
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102 months ago
|
![]() |
H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
102 months ago
|