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Hepatitis C from Environmental Surfaces?
Hello all,
I am an embalming student, and even though I follow all safety precautions, something is worrying me about HCV transmission. A few weeks ago, I bumped my heads on one of the often-used cupboards in our embalming room. While I am crazy about disinfecting everything (I spray Dis-Spray or bleach on everything in sight), I'm not so sure that the others I work with are as clean-freakish as I am. I do sometimes see people opening these cupboards with their bloody gloves. They are pretty good about wiping surfaces with isopropyl alcohol products when they are done, but still, eurgh.
When I bumped the top of my head I didn't notice anything wrong, but later I noticed that I had a tiny scab on my head, so I obviously bumped hard enough to open the skin. I didn't notice any visible blood on the surface where I hit my head, and presumably my hair offered some barrier protection, but I am still wondering if it would be worth it to get tested. I'm not sure that "no visible blood" qualifies as "no possible exposure". At the same time, it had definitely been well over 2 days since anyone had been embalmed when I hit my head, so presumably that would lessen the risk as well. I have read conflicting reports about HepC transmission, with the CDC saying the virus can survive for 16 hours to 4 days, and other studies saying that hepatitis can be found for up to 6 weeks. Am I being a hypochondriac? Should I go and get tested? I'm on the fence about this one.
I am an embalming student, and even though I follow all safety precautions, something is worrying me about HCV transmission. A few weeks ago, I bumped my heads on one of the often-used cupboards in our embalming room. While I am crazy about disinfecting everything (I spray Dis-Spray or bleach on everything in sight), I'm not so sure that the others I work with are as clean-freakish as I am. I do sometimes see people opening these cupboards with their bloody gloves. They are pretty good about wiping surfaces with isopropyl alcohol products when they are done, but still, eurgh.
When I bumped the top of my head I didn't notice anything wrong, but later I noticed that I had a tiny scab on my head, so I obviously bumped hard enough to open the skin. I didn't notice any visible blood on the surface where I hit my head, and presumably my hair offered some barrier protection, but I am still wondering if it would be worth it to get tested. I'm not sure that "no visible blood" qualifies as "no possible exposure". At the same time, it had definitely been well over 2 days since anyone had been embalmed when I hit my head, so presumably that would lessen the risk as well. I have read conflicting reports about HepC transmission, with the CDC saying the virus can survive for 16 hours to 4 days, and other studies saying that hepatitis can be found for up to 6 weeks. Am I being a hypochondriac? Should I go and get tested? I'm on the fence about this one.
HIV would definitely be impossible to get in this situation. I'm not even remotely worried about that. It's far too fragile a virus to be contracted the way I described.
HCV is much hardier outside the human body, which is why it tends to worry me. Especially with new studies saying that it can survive up to 6 weeks, whereas the CDC claims that the timeframe is 16 hours to 4 days.
But thank you for telling me I'm overreacting, truly! I need to hear it from someone else sometimes.
I would be interested to know how a head wound would compare to an arm wound. I would assume that the head, having less vasculature, would provide less chance for HCV to enter the body. Plus, it'd have to go through way more lymph nodes before reaching the liver, so presumably nonspecific defense mechanisms would take care of that before it became an issue.
I'm afraid I think too much.
HCV is much hardier outside the human body, which is why it tends to worry me. Especially with new studies saying that it can survive up to 6 weeks, whereas the CDC claims that the timeframe is 16 hours to 4 days.
But thank you for telling me I'm overreacting, truly! I need to hear it from someone else sometimes.
I would be interested to know how a head wound would compare to an arm wound. I would assume that the head, having less vasculature, would provide less chance for HCV to enter the body. Plus, it'd have to go through way more lymph nodes before reaching the liver, so presumably nonspecific defense mechanisms would take care of that before it became an issue.
I'm afraid I think too much.
I would assume, given the environment as well as the fact you stated about only knowing what the person knew of their health, that you'd treat everyone as though they had a communicable disease. Aren't some things in the embalming room off limits, in terms of touching them with bloody gloves? I would think cabinet doors would be one of them.
Not to feed your fears, but there were a lot of people infected during WWII, so performing these procedures on someone up in years still warrants the same caution as that of a Baby Boomer. Also, do you know that formaldehyde does in fact kill HCV? I ask because it's a pretty resilient virus.
The bottom line is, you'd have to have a very specific sequence of events take place in order for you to become infected in the manner that you've stated. But given your tendency to be a hypochondriac, you will undoubtedly play through every scenario and still not get any resolution.
Just go to your GP and tell him/her that you may have been exposed to HCV and ask for a test. Chances are you've got nothing at all to worry over and it will give you peace of mind.
Best of luck.
Not to feed your fears, but there were a lot of people infected during WWII, so performing these procedures on someone up in years still warrants the same caution as that of a Baby Boomer. Also, do you know that formaldehyde does in fact kill HCV? I ask because it's a pretty resilient virus.
The bottom line is, you'd have to have a very specific sequence of events take place in order for you to become infected in the manner that you've stated. But given your tendency to be a hypochondriac, you will undoubtedly play through every scenario and still not get any resolution.
Just go to your GP and tell him/her that you may have been exposed to HCV and ask for a test. Chances are you've got nothing at all to worry over and it will give you peace of mind.
Best of luck.
You seem to be way over reacting here. First you didn't have and open wound on your head when you bumped it and second there was no visible blood on the cupboards. Hep C is not that easy to get as it takes direct blood to blood contact. As for HIV I think that would be impossible this way but there is a forum for that question... you need to worry more about being a hypochondriac then this... Good luck to you.
The frustrating thing is that I don't even know if there was anyone with HCV gone through recently. I mean, they most certainly tell us if someone is positive for ANYTHING (with HIV/AIDS you will most certainly know, because they will either have been diagnosed and treated during life or have had one of the AIDS-marker diseases that then prompts doctors to diagnose them prior to death), but so many people don't know they have HCV, so then I as an embalmer also don't know that they have it, because it's not on the Medical Certificate of Death as a condition we should be aware of. We really only know what others know about their health.
With so many baby boomers having HCV, I would argue that my risk is fairly low, since we usually embalm older people in their 80s and 90s, who are less of a risk factor. Most baby boomers get cremated nowadays, so my only massive risk so far as that is concerned is a needle stick from setting their features prior to embalming, and I haven't done that to myself yet.
My reluctance to go for testing is that I tend to be a hypochondriac, and I don't know that bumping my head on a visibly blood-free surface and getting tested qualifies as me grossly overreacting, or if I'm being reasonable. I don't like unnecessarily feeding my mental illness when it comes to health. By the time that most people touch the cupboards with bloody gloves, that blood also contains formaldehyde. So that is another mitigating factor.
With so many baby boomers having HCV, I would argue that my risk is fairly low, since we usually embalm older people in their 80s and 90s, who are less of a risk factor. Most baby boomers get cremated nowadays, so my only massive risk so far as that is concerned is a needle stick from setting their features prior to embalming, and I haven't done that to myself yet.
My reluctance to go for testing is that I tend to be a hypochondriac, and I don't know that bumping my head on a visibly blood-free surface and getting tested qualifies as me grossly overreacting, or if I'm being reasonable. I don't like unnecessarily feeding my mental illness when it comes to health. By the time that most people touch the cupboards with bloody gloves, that blood also contains formaldehyde. So that is another mitigating factor.
good question..i wonder about testing time frames? what do they do in hospitals? hiv and hcv
and the new info on hcv staying alive on surfaces longer freaked me out.
I try to clean the house well to protect the family..and hardly ever cut myself…if i have my period and get blood on my panties i throw them away and not put them in the washer. and one time with sex my period came on and we both took showers right away. ugh! we didn't freak out, just was like ok, hit the showers!
my hubby is the kindest person on the planet..
with hiv, i don''t know how long one has to wait now until a test will be accurate after exposure.
I was told that HIV is harder to transmit than HCV...
and the new info on hcv staying alive on surfaces longer freaked me out.
I try to clean the house well to protect the family..and hardly ever cut myself…if i have my period and get blood on my panties i throw them away and not put them in the washer. and one time with sex my period came on and we both took showers right away. ugh! we didn't freak out, just was like ok, hit the showers!
my hubby is the kindest person on the planet..
with hiv, i don''t know how long one has to wait now until a test will be accurate after exposure.
I was told that HIV is harder to transmit than HCV...
Not sure why your on the fence about this one. If a situation like this gives you concern then the only thing to do is get tested...
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