Hello experts,
do apologize my english not good
my wife is a nurse,
accidentally, she was pricked by the patient’s syringe, 4 months later (16 weeks) I asked my wife for an HBSAg test, the result is negative, will her test become positive later in 5 months or years ?
is my wife okay?
Hi @Ngurah_Yuda,
It is had to answer your question. If she has not tested positive 4 months later I doubt she will be testing so down the road. It typically starts showing on test after a week and as late as after 9 weeks. If she is not vaccinated, get her to do so ASAP. I hope this is helpful. Bansah1
Yes, I agree that HBV vaccination is quite important for those carrying out such jobs with increased risk of exposure to HBV.
Our current understanding is that Hep B has an incubation period (time before HBsAg is detected) of 4-12 weeks, so the probability that her test becomes positive later on is quite low. It is best, however, to make sure that she is anti-HBs antibody positive so that you both know that she’ll be protected in future.
Hope this helps,
Thomas
CDc webite say :
“HBsAg will be detected in an infected person’s blood an average of 4 weeks (range: 1–9 weeks) after exposure to the virus.”
So shich one is correcf ?
@ThomasTu @Bansah1
Should my wife need another test ?
Of couse i will get her vaccine later
Thank you
It takes at least 9 weeks after exposure to determine if you have been infected. The 1-9 weeks is the suggested range for an individual to test positive if exposed and got infected. The 4 weeks still fall within the 1-9 weeks range. In your wife’s case, you mentioned it’s been 4 months since her exposure which is about 16 weeks and she is testing negative. It is less likely that she is infected. Unless you meant 4 weeks now after exposure, then she might need retesting. It’s important that she gets vaccinated a rather safer way to protect herself if she has not done so already. Was she tested for HBsAb? You only mentioned HBsAg in your message. I hope this helps clarify things. Bansah1