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How Is Hepatitis-C Transmitted?
Question: I am an 84 year old male, married for 40 years, and my daughter is now expecting her first child. She is worried about Hepatitis C and shingles (the latter I have had) in me. Anything to allay her worries about contact?
Brief Answer:
no need to worry too much!
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
hepatitis C is very difficult to be transmitted to the child because it requires blood-to-blood, sexual contact or giving birth to it. It cannot be transmitted with regular contact or by handling the infant. So unless your blood comes into contact with the baby's blood (or your daughter's blood) nobody needs to worry! It cannot be transmitted to your pregnant daughter either, unless she's been exposed to it. I guess her gynecologist has checked that already.
Shingles can be transmitted (as varicella) to a person who has never had varicella (or has never been vaccinated for varicella) when there are active lesions (blisters with fluid). Transmission is not possible when the lesions have healed with crusts or before the lesions have formed. So whenever you have an attack you should avoid contact with the baby or pregnant women until the lesions heal. The baby is going to be vaccinated for varicella since this is one of the recommended vaccines for infants, so it's going to be immune to it after that. Just one final word... varicella may cause serious problems to a growing fetus, so if you're not sure about your daughter's immune status (regarding varicella) you should be very cautious whenever you have an attack.
I don't believe that serious worries are justified. Just take the precautions I've mentioned and everybody will be fine!
Kind Regards!
no need to worry too much!
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
hepatitis C is very difficult to be transmitted to the child because it requires blood-to-blood, sexual contact or giving birth to it. It cannot be transmitted with regular contact or by handling the infant. So unless your blood comes into contact with the baby's blood (or your daughter's blood) nobody needs to worry! It cannot be transmitted to your pregnant daughter either, unless she's been exposed to it. I guess her gynecologist has checked that already.
Shingles can be transmitted (as varicella) to a person who has never had varicella (or has never been vaccinated for varicella) when there are active lesions (blisters with fluid). Transmission is not possible when the lesions have healed with crusts or before the lesions have formed. So whenever you have an attack you should avoid contact with the baby or pregnant women until the lesions heal. The baby is going to be vaccinated for varicella since this is one of the recommended vaccines for infants, so it's going to be immune to it after that. Just one final word... varicella may cause serious problems to a growing fetus, so if you're not sure about your daughter's immune status (regarding varicella) you should be very cautious whenever you have an attack.
I don't believe that serious worries are justified. Just take the precautions I've mentioned and everybody will be fine!
Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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