You
Scared to touch your bike or drive your own car. Afraid to sit on your couch? Now you just sound like you are trolling.
I understand the fear to a certain point, but to be scared to touch your own car keys but yet swallow your own saliva and swallow the food you chewed or drink the water in your mouth???
I think you are over thinking it all.
Hello @NeptuneJ I think you missed the point. I am not scared for myself but others. I don’t wish to spread it (if it is there) because now I want the family and other people to move freely in the house. So scared to use things that I used to use. Pls try to understand.
Maybe I am overthinking but clear answers to this will only help me getting peace of mind.
These experiments are complicated and cost a lot of time and effort, so only day 7 was chosen as most other viruses would have been inactivated by then. While the virus is comparatively stable, I’m not sure that it is realistic that viruses would be infectious after several months at room temperature.
To put the risk into perspective, I have personally known (some on this forum) people who had lived with their partners for decades (without knowing they had hep B) and even had children with them without transmitting. These short casual contacts that you’re describing really are not an efficient form of transmission, particularly as you had an acute infection (so were not likely to have been infectious for very long).
I hope this helps,
Thomas
Thanks Dr @ThomasTu
Thanks you Dr @ThomasTu but I think we would have idea about it today had this experiment was extended to include longer time intervals. Right now we are just assuming… isn’t it…we exactly don’t know how long this virus survives on surfaces except that it remains infectious for at least 7 days!!
This is so good to read. Thanks for sharing.
Dear @AJK,
Given the ban on any new experiments on chimpanzees now in place, no-one can really do these studies any more.
Your post does remind me however of a cell culture experiment performed recently (https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/219/7/1044/5144374). Here, the scientists used a cell culture model to see how infectious the virus was after various treatments. One was measuring how infectious the virus stayed after many days after storage at 4, 21 and 37 degrees. After 30 days, the virus stored at 4 degrees did not change, at 21 degrees (room temperature) it reduced to 90%, and 37 degrees it reduced to 25%. It is important to note however that this was not on a dried surface, the virus was instead stored in a tube in liquid. So, we don’t know how it performs in the real world really.
The other important thing about this paper is the sensitivity of HBV to different detergents and alcohols. Ethanol at 60% or over and Propyl alcohol at 40% or over can inactivate HBV within 1 minute. This is a common component of hand-rubs. Disinfectants also work really well. So really, it sounds like you have done all you can to minimize any risk. These results would give me peace of mind.
Hope this helps,
Thomas
This changes everything. Not applicable to real world, I think.
Anyway, Thank you so much for making us aware of things we don’t know.
New year wishesh to you 
Hello @ThomasTu @john.tavis
As this study says virus stored in a liquid media reduces it’s infectivity by 75% at 37 degrees in a month, can we apply the same logic to HepB virus present in semen? (As bodys temperature is also 37 degrees) …
As far as I understand it, semen is not really stored by the body, but instead is made when it’s needed by the seminal vesicles (any @healthexperts with more knowledge of physiology please feel free to confirm or correct this). So if you have cleared HBV from your blood, your semen should not contain any virus.
Thomas
Hi Thomas, this thread should be separated and made into its own category about “How transmissible if HBV - Myths and Facts.” You’ve answered all AJK’s questions with the science and in a manner that the average person can understand. That’s quite a feat! But seriously, these are common questions and your answers are very helpful! Thanks so much for taking the time to be available!! It’s not usual to have such a well-trained scientist able to answer our questions. Always, Joan
Ok. Not semen but seminal fluid that comes out from seminal vesicles. Isn’t it stored therein…
I do not believe so.
I was pouring a kettle for tea, then accidentally my hand knocked to the faucet, and then after that my mom drink a glass of water from it. My hand did not bleed until 1 minute later and just a small drop not more, then I checked the place and tried to clean it up by washing it and then use washing flouids. But I am worry about my mom. What should I do you think?
My hbsAg is 25 Iu/ml
My hbv Dna viral load is 193 Iu/ml in case of need
Hello!
I am not an expert but your viral load is extremely low and I don’t think that you should worry.
Maybe a @ScienceExperts can verify this
Dear @IWillBeCured,
Yes, I would agree with @Drew_rous’ interpretation: your viral load is very low and the risk of transmission is very low. Also Hep B is not transmitted through ingestion, so this limits the risk even more.
To put your mind at greater ease, it would be worthwhile making sure that everyone in your household is vaccinated and protected against any potential exposure (not just from you, but from others in the community too).
Thomas
I fully agree with Thomas. Transmission risk is very low in this case, and vaccination against HBV is always a good idea unless you have a medical condition that prevents it (those are quite rare). The vaccine is safe and effective in ~93-95% of people, meaning it is one of the most successful vaccines ever developed!
John
Hello, I posted previously about my test results and I have recovered from an acute infection (results below), however I am still worried I can pass the infection onto others.
HBcAb Positive
HBsAg Negative
HBV DNA Not detected
If someone with an open wound gets in contact with my blood, can they be infected? Understandably, I cannot give blood or donate organs, so does that mean there is still a risk of passing on the infection to others?
Thanks
Dear @newbie,
With undetectable HBV DNA and negative HBsAg, the chance is vanishingly small that anyone in contact with small amounts of your blood will be exposed to HBV.
Thomas
Thank you for your response @ThomasTu ! So is it the volume of bodily fluids that increases the risk (which is why donating blood and organs are not allowed)? I’m very aware I still have the virus in my body and I don’t know how I got it in the first place, so I really worry about spreading it to other people!
Hi @Newbie,
Yes, to a large degree it is the volume of bodily fluids. The lower limit of quantification of the PCR tests is 10 IU/mL, but the infectious dose is between 100 and 15 IU when injected into someone’s circulation (e.g. through blood transfusion - https://gut.bmj.com/content/68/2/313). Therefore, risk of transmission is present if there is transfer of 10 to 1.5 mL of blood if you are undetectable. This is negligible risk in the context of any day-to-day contact, or even intimate sexual contact.
It’s worth nothing that the risk is likely to be much lower if you have anti-HBs antibodies, because this will neutralise any remaining circulating virus.
Hope this helps,
Thomas