Ooooh the worry never ends for me, does it? Stupid hepatitis!

Jan 15, 2010 - 15 comments
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I know protected sex is safe when it comes to Hepatitis B (and A & C for that matter) and HIV, but I also know oral transmission through fellatio is still being debated among researchers/doctors...for HBV anyway. HIV is no risk according to everyone here.

I'm a straight guy. However, in the past, I've been curious and so I've had a few encounters with other men. (I regret doing anything with any of these men and will never do anything again). Anyway, I had one session of unprotected sex, three times I'd done protected sex, and a few unprotected oral encounters, both giving and receiving. I've worried over STDs, especially HIV and Hepatitis as of late. I haven't been with anyone in at least six months, except for one time around three months ago (just an estimate) when I was involved in a very short session of exchanging oral sex...yes, with a man. By 'very short', I mean I performed for no longer than 30 seconds and received for about the same amount of time, with no ejaculation either way around. Anywhere from a month to two months afterwards, I tested for HIV (I had to test anyway, since I never had before). Negative. About a month after testing for HIV, I get a Hepatitis Panel Test for A, B & C. Negative. I hear three months is conclusive for Hepatitis testing. But I don't have such a good memory when it comes to remembering exactly WHEN things happened. In this case, I honestly can't even remember which month I had this brief encounter in. I know if was before November, but it could have been in October or September, likely October. Late October or early October, I don't know. I was tested for Hep. on December 23rd. If there's anyone here that knows alot about Hepatitis, I would like to know, if the encounter occured in, let's say, late October, could I rely on those results? What would you say are the chances I even caught HBV from such a brief oral encounter? I've read from advice the doctors here have given people before, that 6 weeks would likely show whether the person had Hepatitis or not, yet never said that was conclusive. I also read it has never been documented to be transmitted through oral sex. I think my minor, brief exposure, paired with being negative at 6 weeks, added to the fact it's not generally believed to be transferred orally, I would like to say it's very likely I don't have Hepatitis. But I know I can't say that for certain. I don't need to worry over Hepatitis C, I know that much. As for Hepatitis A, I also don't need to worry. But even if I did, contracting this wouldn't even be a problem, as it's not even serious.

I've been told I had no risk at all with HIV from this encounter (I took another test yesterday morning, just to put my mind at ease). Needless to say, it was negative. So my negative results at 3 months (could be a week or two short of the recommended 12 weeks) combined with the fact that you guys assure myself and many others oral sex isn't even a risk, I'm sure I can safely say I don't have HIV. So let's get that out of the way and focus on this other dreaded disease.

I post this as a journal entry so that maybe someone who doesn't normally hang around the Hepatitis B forum, yet knows much about the disease, can hopefully see this and help me. Also because I've posted in the Hepatitis B forum before and, unlike the HIV Prevention forum, there doesn't seem to be any people who are very well informed and confident in their information of the disease. I'm currently unable to ask the doctors here themselves in their forums, so here I am.

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I understand you...i hope we can get thru this...aren't you worried of herpes?

There is no test for a STD virus that is conclusive after 6 weeks.  HIV, Herpes, Hep A,B,C.  None of these are conclusive after 6 weeks past exposure.

HIV is conclusive after 3 months, but Hepatitis on the other hand is generally conclusive after 6 months.
Now with that said, you can get a good idea of where you stand from a 6 week test.  The only STD that seems to be odd is Herpes as some people don't get a positive blood test even though they tested positive through swabs of sores months before.

Now in your case you had 30 second oral sex.  You had no risk for HIV.  You had very minimal minimal risk for Hep B or Herpes.

Im guessing you are from the US?  Hep B is not very common in the US so your odds are very good that you didn't even deal with a person with Hep B.

So my advice to you is just get tested to put your mind at ease.

but again i need to stress that risk was so minimal that you shouldn't worry.

Thanks. However, I was just reading up on similar questions in the doctors' forum and Dr. Hook states that nearly all HBV is detected using the screening test within one month of exposure. He also states oral risks are not even something to be worried about. But, to make sure results can be reliable by 6 or so weeks, I'm going to call the place I was tested at tomorrow and see what they say. And I'm sure it's actually been over 6 weeks, I just want to be careful not to over-estimate the time between exposure and test.

And yeah, you're correct on saying Hepatitis B isn't common in the US. The doctors state the same thing. They say it's even a rare disease now. So this makes me feel somewhat better and less worried.

And otherwise, I've seen they also state results for Hepatitis are 100% reliable by 10 weeks. So if I test again in let's say a month or so, the results should be conclusive. But as I said, I'll just ask the doctor who tested me to be sure.

Isn't this what I just said?  I said 6 weeks is great indicator of where you stand.  I'm sure the percentage is probably anywhere from 85% to 90% accurate.

However, you said you wanted "conclusive" results.  Conclusive results as I understand it is to be 100% or at the very least 99%.  For Hepatitis,

"The hepatitis B incubation period can be as short as 30 days or as long as 180 days. This incubation period is   dependent of the number of virus particles a person is exposed to. Infection with very few particles results in a longer incubation period."

Now the majority will fall in the one month period as you been told and that's why you should be satisfied with your results.  But I was stating 6 months (180 days) in case you fall in the minority.

Now I'm only writing the following things to advise you for your future counters.  I really hope for the future you are more careful, as I have learned the hard way.

Even though the risk is minimal, oral sex does carry risks especially for Herpes and Hep B.  If they say that one with Hep B should not share chewed food with another person what is that telling you?  It's obviously saying there is some risk involved with exposure from the saliva.  Hep B is 100 times more infectious than HIV and has been shown to survive outside the body for hours.  Herpes also (HSV1) can be spread through kissing and through open sores.  Also, people can shed the virus even without symptoms.  This is why it is the most common STD in America.

Thanks. I forgot to ask, when you said the risk was so minimal that I shouldn't worry, did you mean that as it I need to get tested but in the meantime don't worry? Or as in I shouldn't worry over this and just move on with my life?

To genx7....the doctors here state that hepa b is not even a concern when it comes to oral sex....I'm confused...i see a lot of different statements....hepatitis foundation say it's a risk. But the doctors here have never seen a case wherein hepa b was transmitted thru oral sex. I see huge discrepancies in the answers that I find.....i'm worried also...

To SpankYourSister:

I have already stated that I would be satisfied in your situation and not worry.  I just didn't want you to go into your future situations thinking that oral sex is safe.  Getting tested at 3 months depends on you but again I would be satisfied with your results.

To confused200912:

There is a risk with of Hep B transmission through oral sex.  It may be a minor risk but nevertheless there is a risk.  But again Hep B is not very common in the USA.

to genx7, but the doctors here said that there is none.

"As for hepatitis B, while perhaps theoretically possible, there are no reports in the medical literature of this EVER happening and it is not even mentioned as a theoretical possibility in medical textbooks (I looked)." EWH August 5, 2009

"The STDs possible from oral to genital transmission are gonorrhea; herpes due to HSV-1; perhaps nongonococcal urethritis (NGU), which sometimes may be caused by entirely normal oral bacteria; and syphilis. There are no risks for chlamydia, HPV, HSV-2, hepatitis, or any other STD." - Dr. HHH may 3 2009

So you say you are confused yet you seem to be very sure that there is no risk. So be happy with that. I personally would not go and receive oral sex from someone with hep b unless I was vaccinated. Now if you look it up Hep B can be transmitted through human bite. So is it not possible that one might have an open exposure on the penis or it gets rough to point where a cut develops?

Again it is minor but to say that there is no risk at all doesn't seem right.

what for me? mine was more or less 30 seconds?

30 sec or 30 min...whats the difference? If u did it , u did it.

Ooooh the worry never ends for me, does it? Stupid hepatitis!

hbv

Hepatitis

HIV

negative

Oral



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