Hep C transmitted sexually?

[Shalena]

Does anyone know of any case where Hep C was transmitted sexually?

[Myown]

There is a girl on forum who was raped and contracted Hep C.

Many people on forum have hep c and their spouses do not show a detectible level of hepatitus C in the blood so most doctors and people would agree that the virus is not present in the body. I happen to believe otherwise. But that is just my opinion so you don't have to listen to that.

According to the medical community the risk of contracting HCV through heterosexual sex is 3%.

[Myown]

Wanted to say 'spouses dont show antibodies either.

[jmjm530]

How common is sexual transmission of hepatitis C?

(Question answered by Mayo Clinic infectious disease specialist James Steckelberg, M.D., and colleagues )

Hepatitis C is transmitted primarily by exposure to blood containing the hepatitis C virus. Transmission rarely occurs from exposure to other infected body fluids, such as semen.

If you're in a long-term, monogamous relationship with a partner who has hepatitis C, your risk of sexual transmission is low — 0 percent to 0.6 percent a year. For monogamous couples, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn't recommend routine condom use to prevent transmission. But couples should avoid sharing razors, toothbrushes and nail clippers.

The risk of transmission is slightly higher — about 1 percent a year — if you have multiple short-term sexual relationships with partners who have hepatitis C. This risk increases if a partner is also infected with HIV. Under these circumstances, the CDC recommends routine condom use to reduce your risk of transmission.

If you're concerned about hepatitis C, talk to your doctor. Hepatitis C can be diagnosed by a blood test. Treatment may include medications to help clear the virus from the bloodstream.


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hepatitis-c/AN00701

[nygirl7]

Seeing that she was raped - the chance of vaginal bleeding would be much higher than normal...

If you just play it cool and practice the safeRRR sex practices you should be fine.

[Myown]

Seeing that she was raped - the chance of vaginal bleeding would be much higher than normal
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All it would take is a micro tear during sex. Otherwise doctors should say "your husband can use your toothbrush as long as you don't brush your teeth hard, be gentle."

[nygirl7]

Not necessarily true otherwise everyone would be having to use a condom when they have any sex and it's not even recommended for people in monogamous relationships...rough unprotected sex is more likely to give the tear or bleeding on BOTH sides of the equation anyway.  You need the blood from person A to get into the tear of B or vice versa.

[Myown]

and it's not even recommended for people in monogamous relationships...
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And some doctors don't recommend doing an EOT PCR
And some doctors don't recommend doing a VL test other than <650 at 3months or whenever
And some doctors don't recommend using procrit - instead they lower your riba or pull you off tx
And some doctors don't recommend extending tx if a person is still detectable by week 20 or so

AND the most disturbing to me is....MOST doctors don't recommend that EVERYONE should be tested for HCV. And I happen to believe they should test everyone. But thats my opinion.

My feeling on all this is that people can easily see when their doctor is SO wrong and they have no problem in saying he doesn't know what he is talking about when it suits them,, but condoms - I understand, I hate them, but I love my husband and I wouldn't want to put him at risk now knowing I am infected. I personally believe that he and others that have spouses that are HCV positive do have under the radar virons- my opinion. I would hope I am wrong but I don't believe I am wrong in this case. Of course many would disagree and they have that right - same as I have a right to say what I say - not as fact, but opinion.

I'm with the "occult crowd," so thats really why I believe the way I do. I guess this type of discussion will always be on forum and we will always have a divided house on this issue - but it does make for an interesting discussion though IMO.

But anyhow, I guess its an individuals choice - for now. But what is going to happen if 'studies' all of a sudden prove other wise (that sexual transmission is much higher than thought, then what?:)

Do the doctors just say "Ooops?

Gotta go - seeya.

[Myown]

If you're in a long-term, monogamous relationship with a partner who has hepatitis C, your risk of sexual transmission is low

The risk of transmission is slightly higher — about 1 percent a year — if you have multiple short-term sexual relationships with partners who have hepatitis C.
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These kind of statements that come from the medical community are absolutely amazing to me.
I mean really - no one see's anything wrong with these statements?

You can either get hep c from sex or you can't. I'm speechless (which is a rare thang) when I read things such as this.


Long term monogamous? not at risk,,,,yet multiple short term sexual relationships the odds go up??

Odds maybe to getting STD's, but I don't understand how the Odd's could go up with hep c if this doctor really believes what he is preaching. What is his reasoning? Does he think hep c virus is accumulative therefore the more partners you have who are infected you will eventually develope antibodies?

Alright, enough.

Btw, did you feel the race care driver deserved to be the winner on dancing with the stars? I thought both couples were good - but I thought the spice girl chick was going to walk away with it.But I'm glad this guy won though. He was very sweet and he really wanted to win. Show was way toooooooo long though. I don't like those judges though either.

Okay I'm going to eat a Calzone for din- din. yummie yummie. Not really that good for me I guess, but I am in a Calzone mood.

[mikesimon]

The "occults" have antibodies though and that is a distinguishing factor - isn't it? I never infected any of the women I have lived with and there have been several since I contracted the virus. One I lived with for 12 years and another for 10 years and there is nary a trace - even any sign of antibodies - in either of them or the others I lived with for shorter periods of time. Maybe you could get it from taking a bite out of your infected mate's sandwich too - I mean it is possible or even sleeping with them. Say if you elbowed him in the face during one of your bad dreams and his teeth punctured your skin and his gums were injured by your elbow - blood to blood. That seems possible too. Do you wear knee and elbow pads and have him wear head gear while you're in bed together? It would be a safer approach to sleeping with an HCV infected partner. There are so many risks that maybe we should just wear body condoms. That's it - I'm getting one made right away - just to be safe because I care about my woman too. Of course I am SVR but then there is the occult stuff so I am not taking any chances - I'm getting one made ASAP and I advise everyone else to get one too. When I find a manufacturer I will post where to contact and order.
Mike

[Myown]

My husband does wear a body condom. Thats old news. I'm the ONLY body condom manufacturer. I saw the need - God gave me the idea and I ran with it.  AND I wrap myself in Saran Wrap for added protection - you'll see that in my profile if you care to look. Sorry about the hair -I was having a bad hair day.

So look no further, I am the one and only manufacturer and since you only have "occult infection," you can wear the light weight body condom that I designed. You want blue, right? I'll put it in the mail right away.
Don't worry, I'm not mad at you or anything, so there won't be any holes in it.

[jmjm530]

MO: The risk of transmission is slightly higher — about 1 percent a year — if you have multiple short-term sexual relationships with partners who have hepatitis C.
These kind of statements that come from the medical community are absolutely amazing to me.I mean really - no one see's anything wrong with these statements?
You can either get hep c from sex or you can't.
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I think we've had this discussion before, and no, I don't see anything necessarily wrong with that statetment.

For example, sexual relationships with multiple partners are more frequently associated with numerous STDs, which could act either in a synergistic way with the virus, or more simply just allow the virus easier entry because of open sores like in syphillis, herpes, etc. There may be other sociological reasons as well, but it all seems plausible and btw it's all based on stats from studies as far as I understand. No one is making this stuff up.

--Jim

[BThompson4]

"All it would take is a micro tear during sex."

It would take at least two micro tears-- one in each person to transmit the virus.  And these micro tears would have to be bleeding and rub against each other, probably with no lubricants in between to dilute the blood concentration or form a barrier that allows the virus to penetrate the micro tear.  (And doesn't most sex involve lubrication?)  How much does a micro tear bleed?  Hep c transfer possible during sex?  Definitely, but remote chance.  Micro tear to micro tear transfer, give me a break.

[Myown]

I don't have the energy to comment, I'm tired, going to bed..BUT.. Btw I didn't say "Tear to Tear," I said "Tear," as in ONE tear. I don't believe you need 2 tears - ONLY one tear and infected bodily fluid - example - a mans infected bodily fluid - not necessarily semen - just fluid and a tear that the woman has for it to enter. I don't care what others say. Infected fluid has virons and if fluid containing virons goes directly into an open tear, its plain ole common sense that the virus has entered the body. Everyones entitled to their opinion no matter how wrong someone else may think it sounds.

God Bless America,,,Land That I love,,,Stand beside her and guide her.............

[shastri20032003]

I strongly suspect that I got hep c thru sex with al girlfriend..so that makes it non monogamous
Once when we were making love,there was a tear on both sides which could have been the cause of transmission

[Ginger12521]

Hi,
New girl on the block here, but definitely not new to researching this disease. The occult issue really boggles my brain in many ways. Here's an abstract that found  HCV to be replicating in the liver ONLY! Can we even guess how many people are totally unaware they are harboring the HCV in this fashion? So strange...
Best wishes, Ginger~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2004, the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Abstract Background.     There are patients in whom the etiology of long-standing abnormal results of liver-function tests is unknown (ALF-EU) after exclusion of all known causes of liver diseases. We analyzed the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in liver-biopsy specimens from 100 patients who were negative for anti-HCV antibodies and for serum HCV RNA and who had ALF-EU.Methods.     HCV RNA status was tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and by in situ hybridization, in liver and peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).Results.     HCV RNA was detected in liver-biopsy specimens from 57 of 100 patients negative for anti-HCV antibodies and for serum HCV RNA (i.e., who had occult HCV infection). HCV RNA of negative polarity was found in the liver of 48 (84.2%) of these 57 patients with occult HCV infection. Nucleotide-sequence analysis confirmed the specificity of detection of HCV RNA and that patients were infected with the HCV 1b genotype. Of these 57 patients with intrahepatic HCV RNA, 40 (70%) had viral RNA in their PBMCs. With regard to liver histology, patients with occult HCV infection were more likely to have necroinflammatory activity (P=.017) and fibrosis (P=.022) than were patients without intrahepatic HCV RNA.Conclusion.     Patients with ALF-EU may have intrahepatic HCV RNA in the absence of anti-HCV antibodies and of serum HCV RNA.

[mikesimon]

Thanks for that. Do you have a citation? If you do, would you post it?
Mike

[mikesimon]

Never mind, I found it.  http://tiny.cc/Tdu7u

And another: http://www.natap.org/2005/HCV/090505_10.htm

Mike

[Ginger12521]

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/380202&erFrom=5216546515949967931Guest

here's another article


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/563337_2

[Ginger12521]

Thanks for those...

I've had enough fun for today.... : )

take care, Ginger

[mikesimon]

Thanks Ginger.

Here is a link that will shorten your links - URLs - so they won't run off the page.

http://www.tiny.cc/

Mike

[nygirl7]

I don't have the energy to comment, I'm tired, going to bed..BUT.. Btw I didn't say "Tear to Tear," I said "Tear," as in ONE tear. I don't believe you need 2 tears - ONLY one tear and infected bodily fluid - example - a mans infected bodily fluid



That statement doesn't make any sense. You would have to have the tear to let the infected blood out and then another abrasion or tear to let the infected blood in.....you can't really have a blood to blood borne virus without having the other portion of blood can you?

My doctor explainned to me the monogamy part...he said although it's absurd, the old fashion doctor believed if you had more than one partner ... that you were promiscuous and that promiscuous people practice kinkier / rougher sex and THAT is why they say "monogamous"...so if you take that into consideration (hey honestly I'm not a **** but I have been with more than 2 men in my life)...it's not really the AMOUNT of people it's the safeness of the sex you practice.

For example you could have one partner who is extremely violent and rough and practices anal sex and have a much better chance of getting the HCV than if you had five partners who were gentle.

This is how it was all explainned to me by the doctor and it made sense to me as it was spelled out.

But either way you do need to have blood to blood contact and that is why they tell people with HCV not to practice anal sex or sex during a woman's cycle and those things.

[Trish77]

These kind of statements that come from the medical community are absolutely amazing to me.
I mean really - no one see's anything wrong with these statements?

You can either get hep c from sex or you can't. I'm speechless (which is a rare thang) when I read things such as this.


Long term monogamous? not at risk,,,,yet multiple short term sexual relationships the odds go up??

Odds maybe to getting STD's, but I don't understand how the Odd's could go up with hep c if this doctor really believes what he is preaching. What is his reasoning? Does he think hep c virus is accumulative therefore the more partners you have who are infected you will eventually develope antibodies?

Alright, enough.
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Yes, enough.  You say "You can either get Hep C from sex or you can't".    You can only get HCV during sex if there's blood transmission and generally there isn't unless you're engaging in rougher forms of sex.   By your logic, we should also be saying you can get HCV from sharing a home cooked meal with someone or that you can get HCV from letting someone work on your computer.  Under both of these circumstances - preparing a meal with friends and repairing or working on computers, I've bled or had the potential to bleed which then creates a risk of HCV transmission.  Someone can get HCV from a computer I've worked on IF I've been careless, bled on the keyboard and didn't clean it up well or replace the thing entirely and IF it got into their bloodstream somehow..pretty much a longshot..but every time I cut myself working on the hardware of a computer that other people will touch, I think about this.  

Is it fair to say that "either you can get HCV from a computer fixed by an HCV person or you can't"  OR is it more fair to say  "you CAN, IF "

Is it fair to say that "either you can get HCV from a meal prepared by an HCV infected person or you can't".  OR is it MORE fair and accurate to say IF that person cut themself with a knife while preparing that meal and IF they bled onto the veggies and IF.... you can get HCV from a meal prepared by an HCV infected person.

Those are only two examples.  There are countless others.

It's NOT as simple as "you can either get HCV from sex or you can't."  There are conditions that must exist for that to be possible.  Frankly, I've never understood why multiple partners is supposed to increase the odds either rather than it being the kind of sex you engage in.  And nygirl7's comment makes sense to me.

If I've misunderstood your statement, please.  Straighten me out.  I'll be all too happy to eat crow with a red face.  Your statement as it is upsets me on certain levels as I've already encountered enoug stigma and misunderstanding in having to deal with people who think this is a sexually transmitted disease that it put me off of dating for awhile until I could sort out that whole issue of having to tell potential partners and how it impacts me when they react badly or jump to this conclusion and then INSIST they're right and that I'm misguided.  I had to step away from that for awhile.  

[honey11]

There is no clear cut answer to this question.  The odds are very low and most people that have had hep for a decade or even longer had no idea they had it.  Spouses test and are negative.  Once finding you have the disease is when you get parenoid and start watching everything you do.  I'm sure that if a woman is in her period and there was a cut,,,,could be possible but seems like I read somewhere that odds of catching through sex is like about 1%......I guess how lucky do you feel.

[Harry Potter]

I actually argued with my primary-care doctor, who says that Hep C is transmissible through oral sex.  When I countered with what the CDC has to say on the matter (not even getting into the whole sex debacle, just talking about oral sex specifically--and not with a woman on her menses), he actually said the CDC doesn't know what they're talking about.  So I asked him if Hep C is considered to be an STD (if it's easily transmissible via oral sex, it should be even easier for vaginal & certainly anal sex).  He said it's not an STD.  Needless to say, I'm pretty stymied & steamed at his ignorance.  Upon further appointments with him, he'd kind of settled down, but still sticks to his guns on the ease with which Hep C is transmitted sexually--I guess ALL forms of sex, to him.  Ultimately, it doesn't matter how we got it, but more like when we got it & how well we're treating ourselves & dealing with it now.  I guess my main point is, there is lots of ignorance out there--even amongst doctors, who should know better!