I had an incident in a public bathroom at work (I work at a university) while changing a tampon. I had my old tampon and went to throw it away in the special feminine-hygiene trashcan, which is a small box on the wall. As I went to throw the old tampon away, I felt my hand touch either the trash can or the trash bag or both. I then used my hand to insert a new tampon. I think any touching of the trash bag/trash can was minor, but I understand that it only takes microscopic amounts of Hep-C blood to infect a person.
I'm worried because 1) it was a container for menstrual products, so blood is an obvious risk, 2) sometimes I have vaginal dryness that causes pain when I remove tampons, so I wonder if I had any abrasions in my vagina? Also, there is the mucus membrane of the genitalia. How likely is it that individuals contract Hep C through mucous membranes?
I wish I could remember the event. I don't remember which parts of my hand touched the container/trash bag, and then which parts touched the tampon. The event was about three weeks ago and I intend to try to get a PCR test today.