Advice please

Hi Guys,

Im just looking for abit of advice on hepatitis as I dont know much about it.

Today I went to the barbers in the (UK).

I asked for a shave. I watched the barber spray his electrical trimmer with anit bacterial stuff and then proceded to shave me with it.

He ended up nipping me on the neck (adams apple)

Is this a risk of Hep?

Sorry If it may sound stupid but I can get quite paronoid about these sort of things.

Thanks

Mac

[fretboard]

It is not a HepC risk at all.  .  

[mac456]

thanks for the reply. sorry to waste your time

[Trish77]

Hello Mac - and greetings from one Mac to another. :)

It's actually a very relevant question and not stupid at all.  People should be paying attention to the sterilization procedures used at barbers and hairdressers/salons/spas whatever they're called.

That anti-bacterial spray doesn't sound very sufficient to me - maybe it is, but it sounds suspect and doesn't sound like a chemical germicide nor soaking.  Bringing your own instruments sounds extreme but in some cases that may be warranted.  I know one salon I went into, they kept separate tools for everyone.  How they'd manage that, I don't know.  That's what they claimed.

"In 1965, a medical researcher managed to trace several hepatitis B patients back to a barber who unintentionally transmitted the disease by shaving all the patients with the same razor. The barber had used a disinfectant, but it wasn't strong enough to kill all the germs."

"Sterilization

The best sterilization methods are steam, ethylene oxide gas, dry heat, and chemical germicides. Anything that can draw blood—nail clippers, cuticle scissors, callus paring blades, and reusable and straight razors—should be soaked in a chemical germicide.

"However, most states only require cosmetologists and barbers to use a low-level hospital grade disinfectant—which may or may not kill all the microorganisms," Dr. Sekula says. "To really be safe, I suggest bringing your own instruments."

http://www.thirdage.com/skin-hair-nails/can-salons-spread-infection-0

I'm sure there are better articles and this is the best I could come up with on short notice.  Perhaps others will weigh in - being Christmas, traffic may be on the light side.

This isn't going to help with calming you down any but better you are informed.

[mac456]

Hello Trish,

Thank you for your information. Do you think its best then to get checked out? if so how long is best to wait before having a test?

[Trish77]

I'd get it checked out simply because many people go through a barbershop and not all of them would know if they have HCV or other blood-borne illnesses and you're unclear if this guy's sterilization practices are adequate.  It simply gives peace of mind.  Your call in the end, I suppose I would.  Interesting that my daughter just asked to borrow a razor and I told her to look for one I hadn't used yet even though I no longer have HCV.  Just best not to risk unknowing transmission of any kind.  

Antibodies show up for Hep C most commonly between 3 - 15 weeks or so and in far lesser cases up to 6 months.  So I'd get tested for antibodies during that time.  No antibodies, no Hep C.  If you test positive for antibodies, that's another story.  Then you want a PCR to see if you actually have virus.  Hep C clears on it's own leaving only antibodies, no virus in between 15% - 25% of cases so IF you get antibodies, then you test for virus to see if you are going to clear or not ... and if not....then you do treatment during this acute phase as it's got a higher rate of success.  IF you test positive for antibodies and then positive for Hep C virus at about the three month mark since infection, that's when you want to start treatment.  I hope that gives you a timeline to go by.  Test for antibodies before that three month mark - and if none, test again at six months for final peace of mind.  

Keep in mind this method of transmission is very rare and chances you've been infected are very very low.  However, it's a potentially unsafe practice and I would do it for peace of mind.  

I hope that helps and is not too confusing.

Trish

[mac456]

Thankyou trish, that does help. I think I will get checked in the new year than.

Am I right to think that I would need to go to a sex clinic to perform this check? and just ask for the blood tests or can my doctor perform this check as well?

[mac456]

Just one more question, does that mean even having just a hair cut at a hair dresser is a risk?

[Trish77]

Hep C isn't a sexually transmitted disease.  I don't know what sex clinics do in the U.K. so I can't answer that other than to say that Hep C is NOT considered an STD and is NOT a sexually transmitted disease.  This is blood to bloodstream transmission.

With regards to your haircut question - I suppose you're looking at that from a male perspective and I don't know if you get your head "buzzed" or not.  The risk is quite low but any time you're using instruments that can cut skin and exchange blood, that's where the risk lies.  Hopefully the hairdressers you go to are not in the habit of nicking their clients on a regular basis on a haircut!  Shaving someone seems to present more of a risk than a haircut.  From there it's common sense.  Hopefully this helps.

Hope you enjoy the holidays and don't worry.  It's negative until it says positive.

Trish

[R Glass]

There is a Forum in the UK called Hep C Nomads. They should be able to answer some of your questions better than we can. Most of us are from the U.S and are not that familiar with how they do things in the UK