Hepatitis C.

it's very hard to transmit unless you are sharing blood-very similar transmission route as HIV. Hep B is the one to be a little more cautious of-household contact and all. the testing is very similar to hep C too. you have to wait until around 18 months for the maternal antibodies to get out of the child's system. were it me-and i'm a peds nurse who has worked for years with kids/parents with HIV (and lots of moms with hep C too) i wouldn't stress too much over it. even if she has it-which it would be rare, it would be hard for you to catch.

This is a good thread since so many get babies of drug users and other high risk bio parents. What about diaper changes? Should gloves be worn for added protection? I'm thinking of me when I ask even though my FC do not have Hep-c but my hands are always so dry and they can get "Paper type cuts from being so dry" if we ever got a child should this be routine? Thanks!

I actually was not too concern about us catching it. Sw just wanted us to be alittle more careful (I guess to save his butt). Im more concern on our fd. I know that it couses liver failure so, if fd did have Hep C, what things I need to know health wise? I already have two medical fragile kids and I want to know and plan what kind of appt and medical needs she might need. We plan to keep her, she suppose to be a long term placement, but I want to make sure I can handle another medical fragile kid. If anyone have info on that I would greatly appriciate it.

Just wanted to say that our son's bmom was Hep C positive and they thought he might be, too. He was tested several times between birth and 18 months and although he first tested positive, his "numbers" kept going down (i.e. he was getting rid of the antibodies from his bmom) and by 18 months he was negative -- so never actually had Hep C. The doctor we saw with him said that there is only 3-5% chance of a baby born to a Hep C positive mom to be positive themselves.

My as has hepc...the actual virus not just the antibodies...you need to see a pediactric gastroenterologist...they will test for the actual virus sometime between 18-24 months of age....it is a very slow course of disease for most of the kids...taking 10-20 years to actually have effects...however there is the question of treatment and when to pursue that. The treatment can be very hard on everyone It involves injections and pills for 6-12 months and has a success rate of only about 30% if I remember right. there will also be various testing and possibly liver biopsies if the child is indead positive for hepC. risk of contracting hepC during birth (from a pos mother) is only about 5% chance of testing positive early on and then clearing the disease themselves by age 2 is about 25% we do nothing different for our son then we do for any of our other...we practice universal precautions as it pertains to blood....use gloves...bleach mixture to clean up etc... we make sure they dont share toothbrushes but aside from that they play with all the same toys and use the same utensils and cups. We are 3 months from finding out if he has cleared the virus naturally...

My previous fs had it also. If she already tested neg, the odds of it coming back positive are almost non-existant. Usually, they test pos. and then can test neg. afterward, once the antibodies get out of their system. Looks like she won't have it if she already tested negative.

One of our kiddos has been testing positive for hep c. And my mom was given hep b at the hospital years and years ago. They can't be transmitted through any fluids other than blood or seamen. So if there is blood, grab gloves. I always carry them with me. But I do not wear them for diapers, wiping noses.... we give kisses.... I don't treat him any different than anyone else. It's common sense really. If you have a cut on your hand, wear a band-aide to protect it. I also keep cloth diapers handy incase there is an accident. I can use it for blood until I can grab a glove. They can test positive until they are 2 or so. And you won't know if it is antibodies from mom, or the virus. As a pp said, only 5% actually have the virus. Fingers crossed both our little ones don't have it! In all honesty, if he is bleeding and needs me, I am not going to stop for gloves. I am going to take care of him. And I have. I am careful, and am fine. :flower:

Just to help you figure out the blood tests and results - there are basically 3 different blood tests that can be run ELISA, RIBA, and HCV RNA. The first 2 test for antibodies (which could be from mom up to a certain age) the last one tests for the actual viral load (active hepC infection). Negative ELISA = No hepatitis C antibodies found in blood. You are probably not infected with HCV. Positive ELISA = You may have HCV infection. However, it's possible this is a false-positive. More testing is required. Negative RIBA = No hepatitis C antibodies found in blood. You are probably not infected with HCV. Positive RIBA = Hepatitis C antibodies were found in your blood using a very sophisticated lab test. You probably have been infected with hepatitis C. Negative HCV RNA = No active HCV infection. Positive HCV RNA = Active HCV infection.

I was diagnosed as HEPATITIS B carrier in 2013 with fibrosis of theliver already present. I started on antiviral medications whichreduced the viral load initially. After a couple of years the virusbecame resistant. I started on HEPATITIS B Herbal treatment fromULTIMATE LIFE CLINIC (www.ultimatelifeclinic.com) in March, 2020. Theirtreatment totally reversed the virus. I did another blood test afterthe 6 months long treatment and tested negative to the virus. Amazingtreatment! This treatment is a breakthrough for all HBV carriers.