Hi everyone,
I have recently entered a new relationship and my partner and I decided to get an STI test done. Unfortunately they discovered that my partner has a chronic hepatitis B infection. After this they tested my titer as I have been vaccinated (I believe 4 times). My titer is 111IE/L. As I thought this would mean I am protected my partner and I had sex once without a condom (but he pulled out).
Last week he had his first appointment with the liver specialist. I asked him about this and he said well in medicine nothing is 100%, he also said that if I was to catch it in most cases it will become chronic. I was very surprised by this and contacted a gastroenterologist I know from when I used to work in healthcare. She said the fact it becomes chronic is not true and that she doesn’t think I would of infected myself, but I should get a test in 4-6 weeks. I can of course get a test but I’m wondering whether this makes sense and just wondering in general how things are going to be when I decide to have children with him. Will I not be able to conceive naturally. I am really paranoid at the moment because I’m really worried that I have infected myself…
Dear @Rhirhi,
Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your story.
It would be great if you could clarify what you are testing with the titre. If this is the value for anti-HBs antibody in IU/L, then you are considered protected from exposure. Indeed people have had children with HBV-positive partners and stayed HBV-negative after being vaccinated (see Having children and Hepatitis B).
Any exposure during adulthood has a low risk of becoming chronic (~10% in unvaccinated people).
Hope this helps,
Thomas
Yes I believe this is the antibodies. It’s just every where I read to use condoms so I am really unsure whether it’s possible to have unprotected sex. My partner doesn’t know his viral load yet because his tests are still ongoing. I know rationally there is no reason to worry it’s just I get really anxious because I just don’t want to be sick.
Understandably so, @Rhirhi. As you can see from the forum, there are a lot of people that experience this lab test anxiety (it’s probably one of the major impacts of Hepatitis B that very few people in the scientific and clinical communities talk about) and it is normal to feel this way. I can only offer that it gets easier with time…
Thomas