Has anyone gotten Hep c from sex?

[yoyoma123]

I've heard is can be transmitted by sex. But here in medhelp everybody that is married an has 30 years married their partner doesn't get it. Can that data be wrong cause I haven't spoken to one person here that has gotten it through sex.

Has anyone gotten it through sex, please reply.

[Smada65]

I spoke with dr. Eugene chef at University of Miami Medical Center back in 2005. Everything he told me has been spot-on and I did ask him if you could get Hepatitis C from sex he said it is very hard, rough sex where blood would enter another person's body from the other would make you a higher risk. If you've had sex with someone who has hepatitis C I would be tested, that's why I got tested.

[Smada65]

Sorry I was using voice to text... Dr. Eugene Schiff University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, he is in my opinion one of the best hepatitis C doctors in the US. His father and he have study the disease and have worked on cure/treatment their entire careers. If you think you had sex with someone with the disease you should be tested, I was told it is rare but the fact is that it's possible, I would definitely be tested.

[Aal27]

I just recently got hep c from my husband. We've been together for 7 years and even though we're not exactly sure how I caught it from him sex could def be a possibility my Dr said. I can't remember coming into contact with his blood in the last few months (which is when I caught it) so they said although rare it's possible it was from sex. I can't think of any other way I would have gotten it from him. We dont use drugs, don't share razors or toothbrushes so that's the only thing that seems possible to me and the Dr agrees this is probably how it happened.

[Joe2e]

This is just a comment to the subject in general I have met over two hundred people with Hep C, No one had ever gotten it from (SEX OR HARD CORE SEX, NO MOMS HAD PAST IT ON TO THEIR KIDS, NO ONE GOT IT FROM TOOTHBRUSHES, CLIPPERS. KISSING ETC. THEY ALL HAD EITHER CONTRACTED IT FROM IV DRUG USE OR BLOOD TRANSFUSION). Now what a lot of them had done is NOT TOLD THE TRUTH TO THEIR DOVTORS AND FAMILY, they told them they must have got it from a sex partner, tattoo or maybe one of the other methods listed above. This is the type of thing that makes doctors put out reports that Hep C is transmitted all sorts of ways plus the medical field has to preach safety and state possibilities for the general purpose of trying to protect people which is ok, but these people that are not telling the truth are making things seem a lot worse than what is really true. I have had two kids myself and had unprotected sex, oral sex, really rough sex etc. for over 25 years and no one has gotten it from me. I believe and doctors I have spoken with think it is rare to never that this is spread any other way than through the use of a IV needle. I am no professional but I think people should hear what is going on from a lot of sources and then make up their own mind. I personally don't worry about spreading it even though I tell the people close to me so they can make their own decision. I am firm in my belief that it is probably one in 100,000 if that that get Hep C any other way than IV Drug use, Maybe Tattoos if you go somewhere that is not licensed and checked on regularly that is reusing needles or some sort of medical IV Transmission. I believe the masses are safe other than in these instances. But you all make your own decisions!!!

[Animallover09]

Just for your information I contracted hep c from birth from my mother and I passed it on to my son. I had him tested when he was 6 years old. Apparently, we have the rare genotype of hep c that crosses placenta. Only 5 percen chance.

[nygirl7]

And yes people can be infected via sex there was a woman on here who was raped and tested after that and had contracted it. I believe she is SVR now. But that is not normal intercourse and is one of the reasons the doctors tell us to practice safER sex. I could have gotten it from my husband who was positive in the mid80s however it seems less likely than drug use and operations that I have had.  One never really could be positive in my case.

[Trinity4]

No problem James.  My alma mater is the College of A-s-s-h-o-l-e-r-y.  Class of 1974. :)

[James10500]

To all:

I don't mean to be a jerk off on this.  I truly do not know, I'm not sure there is such a thing.
I do know we all wish we were not here, it's a bummer for all of us.  I also know I want everyone to attain good health and beat this thing.  TG is coming up may we all enjoy this day with our friends and family.

James

[Diane12855]

Just one last comment about the clippers. I have often used clippers to cut off hang nails and torn cuticles. In order to keep them from catching on my clothes, I had to cut them very close and there have been times I drew blood. Before I knew I was infected, my kids would often ask to use the clippers after seeing me use them, just because it reminded them that they had a bothersome area too.

BTW... none of my kids have Hep C... but I caught mine from my ex in the 80s when he had an acute case and at the time they actually thought he got his from bad water and that I couldn't catch it... they called it Non A Non B back then.

Diane

[Willy50]

I think part of the issue is that you are interpreting it to be clinically in dormancy where I believe the term is used more metaphorically in the articles you provide
I can understand where you can interpret it as such.

The headline about HCV coming out of dormancy is metaphorical, not clinical.  The writer means that large numbers of people are starting to emerge with damage the result one presumes is the result of decades of active infection........ not of a virus, like a cicada that wakes up after sleeping for 18 years.  : )

Here is what the floridavets site wrote;
"Veterans, especially Viet Nam veterans, have higher instances of infection. Hepatitis C can lay dormant for many years, and not display any symptoms for as long as twenty to thirty years or more. Symptoms, when they do occur, are vague, flu like symptoms that are not usually specific to hepatitis. Veterans who received blood transfusions or who worked around blood seem to be at greatest risk.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I couldn't tell who wrote that or what year it was written, but if you scan the pages of this bulletin board you will find many threads on the effects of HCV on many parts of the body, not just the liver.  This stuff is fairly new information.

Once again, I believe that the paragraph describes or dummies down the concept for the masses and is not talking about clinically dormant HCV.  

IF there is clinical information about HCV dormancy one doesn't not find much at hivandhepatitis.com.  I've not seen much discussion about it or papers on it.  If it exists perhaps you can post a few links, studies or articles.  You are wise in not accepting everything that one reads on a bulletin board.

best,
Willy

[James10500]

What don't you understand about the words " I wonder " , " I don't know this to be fact "' and" maybe I'm being naive"?

I'm not talking about a pedicure.  I'm talking about a nail clipper, as in cutting your nails.  I've never seen blood on a nail clipper in my life.  I find the scenario of handing a bloody nail clipper to your family member for them to use highly unlikely.

It was suggested to me that the CDC lists "nail clippers" on there site and how the CDC "tends to get these things right" and that I should "go read it". well I DID and it doesn't say anything about nail clippers.

It was simply my opinion, that I admitted may be wrong.  But from now on I'll defer to the self proclaimed Hepatologists. Funny a Doctor that has published 300 + papers on liver disease tells me it can lie dormant someone on the Internet who had Hep C tells me it can't hmmm.  

Posting your opinion thousands of times on the Internet does not equate to a medical degree.

[Andiamo1]

The statistics point to 30% of infections from unknown sources.  The known sources are IV drug use, blood transfusions, dialysis, sharing cocaine implements such as dollar bills...

People guess at other methods of transmission.  People that live in households that have an infected member have a higher rate of infection than people that don't.  Spouses have a higher rate of infection than other house members.

Those statistics imply correlation not causation, so there are interpretations, but not conclusive proof.

[GSDgirl]

As far as sex goes, I have been with my husband for 24 years and I had IT and he didn't.  We also shared toothbrushes, nail clippers (I can't imagine cutting any of my nails short enough to make them bleed tho that hurts like heII), razors, and whatever else a couple uses over a 21 year period.  I didn't even know I had IT until 3 years ago.  

Just my input.

Denise

[nygirl7]

It doesn't mention nail clippers.  Maybe you should have read what they actually do say. "

Yeah you think if you can get it from a toothbrush that nail clippers are not possible?  And in a manicure they don't only use clippers they also use little sticks to push away the cuticle - all sorts of things. When I had hepc I did not let my family use my nail clippers - seems to me that while not the most efficient means surely would be possible if I cut myself and then they cut one of themselves.

[James10500]

Yep that's why I said " I don't know my opinion" to be fact.  I'm speaking to nail clippers.  I'm a guy and know nothing about a manicure.  That maybe a more involved process than cutting you nails at home.

As far as dormant, I'm not sure why they use that word.  Maybe VL stays low for many years and has little effect. Then it increases and starts to do damage. Dormant gives the idea that the virus is basically dead and then somehow wakes up. Perhaps it's correct to say minimal activity.

All I really know is I hate the little $/!+. Want to attain SVR,and hope my liver will get healthy.  

[Willy50]

I would agree with what Trish wrote.  I think it may be a matter of nomenclature for some doctors who witness some people with HCV having seemingly no liver damage as describing it as dormant.

What most of the literature shows is that while for many people the first decade or two of infection may be uneventful, or relatively so there is still damage that occurs that is linear generally related to the duration of the infection even though it may be very gradual.  In that respect, it is not truly dormant.

Further, the more one investigates HCV one also becomes aware that the damage is not limited to liver issues.  There are a number of studies which are now linking HCV with a number of extra-hepatic issues; cardio-pulmonary, predisposition to diabetes, depression and a number of auto-immune issues.  These and possibly other issues are related to being infected for decades.  I don't believe that the issue of dormancy is well documented. It may well be an old belief, or it is an ill chosen word to relate a concept to patients.  It may convey a general idea to patients while not really being accurate.  

Like I say, I think that it is a matter of nomenclature.  Doctors may see HCV infected patients with little or no damage who may even drink alcohol to excess.  They need some model or term to describe what they see and perhaps active or inactive/dormant may be descriptive for them but strictly speaking I don't believe that it is an accurate term.  I'd be more willing to accept *relatively* dormant in documented cases, but I doubt many of these so called dormant cases had all the medical work ups which verified that no other extra-hepatic damage also occurred.  Keep in mind, one can't compare such patients to the norm of what average people expect; one would have to compare it to the same person w/o the infection.  What we actually see with liver damage is that damage occurs and damage is repaired.  With time and increased fibrosis progression the repair function of the liver become overrun by the amount being damaged.  Even while this happens the actual damage is not always evident.  Many people seem fine and appear to be in good health, which may lead one to believe that the disease is indeed dormant.

On the issue of fingernail and manicure issues, that can be like sex; the event may vary a lot from party to party.  I doubt that I could ever transmit by sharing may fingernail trimmers.  At nail salon I have been told that the workers can be very vigorous and have shed blood on occasion.  In that circumstance you may have an event where another person may arrive in minutes and be worked on with the same tool.  At my house the same trimmers might not get used for weeks.  The degree of risk at the manicure salon will be exponentially greater than at my house.  

My first year following diagnosis I looked to the CDC for information but I found it to be scant, very brief and possibly patchy.  Generally speaking they are factual.

Do you notice that the above list doesn't specifically list military service as posing increased risk?  Or that innoculation via air gun as a possible mode of transmission?  Snorting of drugs?  Tattoos?

I was always a little underwhelmed with the offering from the CDC.  I think the information is better elsewhere.  

best,
Willy


Willy

[Trish77]

I think "dormant" is an inaccurate word to use.  Laying low is one thing, dormant is another.  It may seem like semantics but the implications of the words are entirely different.  "Dormant" means inactive.  Laying low indicates more of an undetected unnoticeable state.  I don't care for either term really but "laying low" is closer to the reality.  Hep C is never inactive.  It's just doing it's damage slowly and unnoticed - usually.  However it's not "dormant".

As for nail clippers, I think they're covered in the "such as" portion of:

"Sharing personal items contaminated with infectious blood, such as razors or toothbrushes (also inefficient vectors of transmission) "

Very inefficient to be sure but still enough of a concern that it's become standard practice to sterilize instruments used by manicurists and not to re-use them.  

I don't know if I've ever read of anyone who was able to confirm they got HCV from using someone else's toothbrush either but we still know it's possible.

[James10500]

Here's what the CDC says

Transmission and Symptoms
How is HCV transmitted?
HCV is transmitted primarily through large or repeated percutaneous (i.e., passage through the skin) exposures to infectious blood, such as
Injection drug use (currently the most common means of HCV transmission in the United States)
Receipt of donated blood, blood products, and organs (once a common means of transmission but now rare in the United States since blood screening became available in 1992)
Needlestick injuries in health care settings
Birth to an HCV-infected mother
HCV can also be spread infrequently through
Sex with an HCV-infected person (an inefficient means of transmission)
Sharing personal items contaminated with infectious blood, such as razors or toothbrushes (also inefficient vectors of transmission)
Other health care procedures that involve invasive procedures, such as injections (usually recognized in the context of outbreaks)


It doesn't mention nail clippers.  Maybe you should have read what they actually do say.

[James10500]

I'm sure they have good reason.  I said I didn't know anyone who is a confirmed case of transmission via a nail clipper. I also said maybe I'm being naive.  I never said it wasn't possible.  I simply said "I wonder".

[Diane12855]

I seriously don't think the CDC would list it as a way of contracting HCV unless they had a good reason to believe that it was so. They tend to think it is kind of important to get their facts straight because every doctor in the country looks to them. Maybe you should read what they have to say about it.

Diane

[James10500]

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/05/19/2010-05-19_hepatitis_c_can_lie_low_for_years_until_it_wreaks_havoc_with_your_liver.html

Another article

[James10500]

No I really never thought to get one or look for one.  I just trusted what Dr. Everson author of " Living with Hepatitis C " has told me. I think the correct term is in-active.  I'll look for a study.

It's not my business to tell anyone how they got Hep C.  I just have never heard of a confirmed case of a nail clipper.  Maybe that's naive.

[James10500]

http://www.floridavets.org/information/hepatitisc.asp

Check the 4th paragraph.  My doctor is one of the more respected Hep C docs in the country he has told me that it can have a dormancy phase.

I guess we all can believe what ever makes us feel comfortable.  

[James10500]

Do you mean can lie dormant ?

http://www.healthjournalism.org/blog/2010/01/hep-c-emerges-from-dormancy-to-hit-baby-boomers/

[R Glass]

Who knows, maybe I got from Nail Clippers. To be Honest, I am not sure how I got it. Blaming it on my IV Drug use over 30+ years ago is to convienant. I put my liver through pure hell for the last 30+ years, mostly drinking everyday. I was F1. We all know HCV does not lay dormant so, I don’t but into my Super Liver was able to fight off HCV and all that Alcahol (among other things) for over 30 years and come out almost unscathed.

[James10500]

I've got to wonder about all those possible routes of transmission.  I've never heard of a person getting hep c any of those ways.  They say it but where are all the people that got Hep C via nail clippers ?  I obviously don't know this as fact, but if it is, where are these people.