HEP B

[scared_and_confused]

I am waiting for my test results monday...i had unprotected sex 9 months ago with an unknown woman...i had no flu, fever, or any symptoms...i tested negative for HIV, Syphillis, Herpes, Gonnorrea and Chlamydia...then i kept looking on this website and found out that people also tested for hep B, but no one made a big deal out of it like HIV...i checked my records and it showed that i recieved the vaccine in 3 parts 2 in 95 and the 3rd one in 98

1) why is it that HIv is a bigger deal tha Hep b

2) should I be concerned about mondays results

3) is hep c a possibility for unprotected sex.


I am extremely stressed out about this as I thought it was all over withe the HIV but now again theres HEP B...i know there are 80,000 new cases a year and that most people clear up the hep b infection is it true,,and what types of people don't clear up this infection


thank you all, and my prayers are constantly with you all..MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

[regularjoey]

1) Because people can actually beat Hep B
2) no
3) no

[Teak]

Most people don't die of HBV. Did they do a retest on you to see if the vaccine worked? I've never heard of anyone taking the HBV in 3 years. It's a wonder it even worked. As for the rest of your questions ask your doctor on monday.

[scared_and_confused]

no they didn't do any test thats the way my vaccine was scheduled 95/95 and the third one was 98..i may have had one done before that but may have done a 4th one..i really don't know...two months after exposure my doc did a profile and found that my ALT/AST were perfectly normal 16/17..what do you mean its a wonder if it even worked?

[scared_and_confused]

"As with other hepatitis B vaccination schedules, if administration of the two-dose schedule is interrupted, it is not necessary to restart the series. Children and adolescents who have begun vaccination with a dose of 5 mcg of hepatitis B vaccine (recombinant) should complete the three-dose series with this dose. If it is not clear which dose an adolescent was administered at the start of a series, the series should be completed with the three-dose schedule."


what do you think?

[Teak]

I don't think they mean after 3 years.

[monkeyflower]

I honestly think it doesn't matter, as long as you get all three doses. But since you're freaking out over it this much, just go get tested. That will tell you whether you have antibodies. But honestly, don't you think that maybe you're just transferring your anxieties from HIV, now that you have a conclusive negative, to HBV? Then it'll be HCV (you're already starting--but fyi, HCV is very, very rarely sexually transmitted), then who knows what else. Maybe it'd be better in the long run to consider looking at what's making you so anxious and frightened about having sex...

As for beating HBV, well, that's not really true. Most people do resolve it. For those who develop chronic infections, however, it can be quite serious. Like HIV, there's no cure. It can lead to serious liver damage (cirrhosis), and sometimes cancer. Transplant is sometimes necessary. The good thing is that HBV is preventable (get vaccinated!), and there are new antivirals developed all the time for existing infections, with fewer side effects and less incidence of developing resistance.

Of course I seriously hate to talk about this on this board, because god knows you folks don't need anything else to start tripping out over. So I'll just stress that serious outcomes are less common, and take a long time to develop. If you're reading this and you're worried, just go get vaccinated, and then you can let it go.

[nerviouskid]

just out of curiousity, how long does one need to wait in order to test for HBV?

[j_worried]

1. 40-150 days is the window period for antibodies to debelop
2. 12 weeks is good time to test on HBsAg. If it a recent exposure, clinics usually offer the surface antigen test. If that test holds negative at 12 week, it is safe to conclude that no chronic infection happend.

[monkeyflower]

Honestly, I don't remember. The better idea is to not worry about it at all... just get vaccinated if you haven't been, and move on.