Hep C exposure via bed blanket

Question

I had taken my wife to the hospital to as she was sick and she is pregnant as well. The hospital staff took us in right away and she was made to lay down on a bed that looked to be clean. After about 10 mins or so I noticed a small red line on the hospital blanket that she was lying on (she accidentally lay on the blanket instead of covering herself). Now the blanket was mostly white but I saw this red mark. I started feeling that what if I had touched the red mark and accidentally rubbed my eyes. Also one of my fingers had a fairly bad cut from the previous day when I accidentally scraped my finger against a door frame while taking a chair in the basement. Now to the best of my knowledge it had been almost 22 hours since I scraped my finger and the bleeding had stopped but I am wondering if the red mark could be a little blood from someone in the hospital staff who might have had a little cut and was changing the bed sheets before we came in. I would assume all hospital staff would cover there wounds because they themselves are at risk of they have patients bodily fluids on an open wound. Also I feel that had I not seen the little red mark I might have not even realized that it existed. I am sure a lot of people have cuts and scraps and in there lifetime they might have touched little bit of blood on in animated objects like door knobs or whatever without getting infected. I know my problem is more of OCD than Hep C or HIV. Just wondering what others feel. My CBT sessions and auto suggests have helped me deal with my OCD and lot better so I don't panic anymore...but the battle against OCD is long and slow. I know I'll overcome this one day. Its just tiring.

AD1358 · Answer

Thanks Flyinlynn. Take care.

flyinlynn · Answer

It is probably ink.

Hep c requires blood to blood contact your wound would have to be an open wound not a cut from yesterday.

There have been no know cases of transmission of hep c in the manner you have described. Even health care worker with an accidental needle stick involving a patient with known hep c the odds are less than 5% they will contract th evirus.

I would keep working on your OCD problems that is your greatest health concern not the extremely low risk of catching hep c through any other method than having direct blood to blood contact with hep c contaminated blood

Good luck