Hep A Contractable from Inanimate object?

[HLeigh]

This may sound silly but my Anxiety level is extremely high right now.

Okay, last night I found an old coin on the streets, being a coin collector, i had to have it. It was a jamaican 50 cent coin. I was extremely intrested becuase those has not been in circulation anymore. After i fiddeled around with it and felt the texture. I went to eat some fruit with my hands, forgetting to wash my hands.

What is the possibility of me getting Hepatitis A ( HAV ) by this is. ( If the coin fell into a toilet with feces inside ) or ( If the coin made contact with a person which didnt wash their hands ) .

& Would simple water and soap kill the germs?

Thank you

[HLeigh]

[edit] ( If the coin dropped into a toilet with feces and it was picked back up again ) or ( If someone went to the washroom and didnt wash their hands and handled the coin )

[Myown]

Have you ever eaten at mcdonalds or burger king? if you have don't worry about the coin,,,your probably immune.

[Imagine]

Wow that is some anxiety! Now whenever I handle change I will wonder if any of them have recently taken a dip in the toilet? May I ask where you found the coin? If it was in a bathroom floor I guess that would be cause to wonder.

[Imagine]

Sorry I re-read your note and saw you found it on the street. Coins are very dirty no matter where they have been. The one and only time I was in Las Vegas I looked at my hands after about a half hour of playing slots. My hands were filthy, not filthy rich but just filthy. I immediately went to the bathroom and washed my hands.

[chcnme]

hahaha - not laughing AT you (but I guess I am), but don't worry because I can imagine (this day and time especially) doing the same thing, thinking "holy c*** I didn't wash my hands before I ate that fruit, and there is no telling where that beautiful nasty coin I found on the street may have been". I don't even buy lettuce anymore out of the grocery stores - I pass the green yunyons right on by, too, and I forego all Taco Bell Nacho cravings.  McDonalds!  whew - way too much yellow these days for me.  I don't think you have too much to worry about.  I guess if it's causing you super anxiety (and it could if you're really worried about it), you could go to the health department tomorrow or call them and ask them for advice.  

Watch that spinach too.  Best of luck! :)

[jmjm530]

I believe Howard Hughes always washed his money. I've done so on occasion as well, but always accidently and in fact may have damaged my washing machine that way, although g*d dang, those coins sure looked clean and shiny when the washer repair guy fished them out.

Ordinarily, I'd say "no" to your question, but then again there are some people here who suggest SVRs are contagious because no definitive studies suggest otherwise. No studies to my knowledge regarding Hep A transmission through Jamaican coins (wasn't there a short-coin Italian study a year ago?), so there you have it :)

Happy New Year everyone,

-- Jim

[bobbyullc]

yes, your husband,

serious, 1 in every 50 people have this so you come in contact with several every day serving food, making change, shaking hands. screw the coin stay behind closed doors like howard hughes.

[GoofyDad]

Not like you to be so loose with the disclosures... I believe money laundering is illegal....

[mremeet]

Technically it's possible. But technically it's possible you could get hit with a meteor while chewing gum and walking backwards down the street. Unless you have some reason to believe that some person who happened to have HAV, just happened to wipe his butt and got some poo on his hands, and then just happened not to wash his hands afterwards, and then just happened to manage to transfer an appreciable amount of HAV laden poo from his hand(s) onto the coin very shortly before dropping it in the street for you to find shortly thereafter, and then you just happened to pick the coin up while the HAV was still infectious/viable, transfer an appreciable amount of viable HAV poo to your hands, and then just happened to effectively transfer that infected poo to your food and thence to your gullet.

If all those things happened, you might want to have yourself checked out! ;)