Am I at risk for Hepatitis C?

[Nate1992]

Okay, I have just a few concerns. I had previously been tested twice for Hep C for risks that I thought were cause for concern. I may mention I have OCD. I don't want someone to answer that I shouldn't be worried, because it's just OCD, but I want a realistic answer, please? I went to the liquor store the other day and I had a fresh bleeding hangnail. I didn't realize it was bleeding until I got there. Anyways, it was pretty fresh and I was making a purchase with a credit card and after I made the purchase I had to sign the receipt. When I grabbed a pen from the jar, the pen slid over the wound with some pressure. What are the chances of me contracting Hep C from this? Let's say there was dry/fresh blood on the pen that I did not see. What is the likeliness of contracting Hep C from this? Thank you all again for your answers!

[Nate1992]

So, just to sum it up, do you think it's even likely or do you just think it's OCD? Thank you again for your reply! It is much appreciated!

[Nate1992]

Thank you for your reply! I greatly appreciate it!

[orphanedhawk]

We do get a lot of OCS people here who imagine they have contracted the virus or some other from extremely unlikely situations such as the one you describe.

Hep C is transmitted via blood to blood. AND the blood has to have the virus in it. Many of us have lived for years without knowing we have the virus and yet our close family members did not get it.

Good luck in finding help for your anxiety.

[JimmyMose]

Welcome to the forum.  My non medical guess would be extremely unlikely.  First the random chance of a pen having dried blood on it is extremely low   Second if the pen did have dried blood on it the odds are low like about 3% (could be higher or lower depending on country and ethnic group (2). Third if the pen had dried HCV blood then chances would still be low for you to get infected(3).  When you add the these up my non medical guess is that the chance of you getting infected would be less than 1 in 100,000.

2 http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2014/01/18/hepatitis-c-doesnt-affect-all-latinos-equally-puerto-ricans-infected-10-times/

3. http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Outbreaks/HealthcareHepOutbreakTable.htm
Healthcare-Associated Hepatitis B and C Outbreaks1 Reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008-2012
Hepatitis C (total 16 outbreaks, 160 outbreak-associated cases, >90,000 at-risk persons notified for screening)Therefore, the numbers reported here may greatly underestimate the number of outbreak-associated cases and the number of at-risk persons notified for screening.
Note This report is from outbreaks where HBV & HCV blood source was confirmed but well less than 1% HCV only exposure confirmed getting HCV. even if greatly underestimate - my guess if by 90% then the number actually infected would still be well under 10%.    

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Wish you the best.especially with managing your OCD