Danger of transmission?

[Jeff88]

It is been quite a long time since I posted. Old-timers may remember my 72 wks battle on tx, I was UND on week 20 and relapsed after tx stopped. Many of you helped and supported me during this rough time. I have been stable since then, but had many changes in my life.  I am thinking of retreating with new drugs, it is complicated in my case as I had a liver transplant.

My question is about a possible danger I may have caused to my family. We had a birthday gathering a couple of weeks ago and when I opened a bottle of wine, I accidentally got a slight cut (less than a millimeter deep) on my thumb when unwrapping the aluminum foil around the cork. I didn't notice the cut and there was no visible blood on the foil when I poured wine into glasses, but there may have been some molecules of blood on the foil when I was pouring wine. Only after we drank the wine, I noticed a small drop of blood on my thumb from the cut.

The thought of me transmitting HCV to my relatives makes me loose sleep at night. What is the possibility of HCV getting into blood stream from the stomach? Should they be tested? How soon? Treated?

Would very much appreciate your thoughts on this.  Jeff.

[Jeff88]

"Fortunately, most patients do reasonably well... " and many LT I know fall into this category. I hope for the best and be in reasonably good shape to start new tx.

Best of luck to you and thanks for the info.

Jeff

[HectorSF]

Jeff, after 9 years if you haven't had extensive liver damage due to hepatitis C that is a good sign.

...the natural history of recurrent HCV following LTx appears to be significantly accelerated compared to that in non-LTx cases. Rather than the 20% figure quoted for non-LTx cases who may develop cirrhosis after 20-30 years, anywhere from 10 to 30% of LTx recipients with recurrent HCV have advanced fibrosis (scarring) or full-blown cirrhosis within only 5 years."

..."recurrent HCV post-LTx is becoming an all-to-common problem. Fortunately, most patients do reasonably well although 10-30% develop cirrhosis after 5 years or more. Very few have the more aggressive form of FCH related to markedly elevated viral levels."

Here is an informative article about HCV and post transplant patients. This is a paper from 2002.

Hepatitis C and Liver Transplantation

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hcsp/articles/Shaw-Stiffel-1.html

This is a more complete paper from 2006 written by my doctor who leads the Hepatitis department at the UCSF Liver Transplant Clinic here is SF and is one of the leaders in the field of hepatitis and liver transplant.

http://sadieo.ucsf.edu/course/old/HCV-LT.pdf

Cheers!
Hectorsf

[Jeff88]

Thanks to all of you. I feel relieved.

Hector: Thanks for the detailed info. Btw, I got my liver 9 years ago, so it is not new anymore. Treated 3 times post transplant.

Mike: My doc is also cautious about starting treating immediately. I too don't want to shake up things right now, but it is on my mind.
Hope all is well in your life.

Jeff

[nygirl7]

To quote the great and magnificent Trin you could make a salad and sprinkle your blood on it instead of dressing and still you wouldn't infect the person that ate it.

Well she said it much better than that but you get this gist.......and yes, we did have a poster who said they put their blood on a salad to infect their spouse......it's a sick world out there - who'd even think up something like that let alone try and do it or then post about it?

[mikesimon]

Hi Jeff,

I agree that there is no risk with the wine bottle.

I have yet to see any information about treatment for post transplant patients with direct-acting antivirals - insofar as trials are concerned, that is. I have read articles which mentioned possible interactions with the anti-rejection meds in this population but nevertheless I am very hopeful.

Please, keep us informed.

Good luck,
Mike

[HectorSF]

Congratulation on having a new liver. Definitely talk to your hepatologist about treating your HCV with the new meds. Many transplant centers are waiting for the new meds and will be treating their post transplant patients with them. As you may know there is a timing issue of when to treat hep C in post transplant patients. Patients need to have recovered from the  transplant and any post transplant issues and be healthy enough to undergo the impact of treatment.

Now for your question..
Assuming the worst, let says there was visible blood being transferred into the wine...
Hepatitis C is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact only. This means that the blood of someone who is infected with the hepatitis C virus has to come into contact with the blood of someone else for transmission of the virus to occur. The hepatitis C virus is not transmitted by sharing eating utensils or dishes nor contaminated food or drink.
It is a good thing to be aware and careful about spreading the virus, in this case you can relax and not worry.

From the CDC

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) NOTE: These are blood to blood transmissions.
Other health care procedures that involve invasive procedures, such as injections (usually recognized in the context of outbreaks)

Stay healthy. Best of luck with the new meds.
Hectorsf

[babs824]

jeff; u have plenty to keep u up at nite. this is not one of them. blood to blood diseases like hcv and hiv are not transmitted this way. dont have another sleepless nite. good luck to you. i worked in food and beverage for decades and i thoroughly researched this. there is no chance in what u describe that u might transmit hcv. best, babs

[James10500]

This may help-

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/any1-answer/show/666713

[James10500]

I believe it's zero, trin used to post about this.