How easy is it to get Hepatitis C from

[Brizzy]

sharing a razor? My friend just found out she has it and she's used my rasor a few times in the past, but says she's never cut herself..do I have anything to worry about?

[Greg I]

How likely is it that she's telling the truth? You say "...a few times..." that means you've been exposed multiple times, which will increase your risk. It is listed by the CDC as an "at risk" behaviour, but it's a bit of a long shot.Knees and shins get nicked pretty regularly by most women I know, usually when they're in a hurry. If she rinsed it off, she removed part of the risk. If you rinsed it before you used it then you removed part of the risk. The problem with HCV (Hep C) is it's a tough little bugger. It can last quite awhile outside the body (3 days says CDC, but may be more) and it doesn't take many viral copies to cause an infection. I don't think you need to run right out for a test, but if it's been more than 30 days you might consider it. For your own peace of mind, and to tell you the truth to avoid having to make big changes in your lifestyle.I have HCV, and I'm not eager to share it! That means not using anyone else's razor, hairbrush, or tooth brush and making sure that mine are put away out of reach and out of sight (you never know what a kid might get into!) If I work on any machinery & skin my knuckles, etc. I have to make sure nobody else does any wrenching on it for at least a week because you just can't be sure where blood products might be. I'm diabetic, so needless to say my sharps container and needle nip are put away, always. Fishhooks are a real b!tch, low ceilings suck, telling the young lady doing dental X-rays to glove up is OK, but watching her reaction isn't.I think by now you can see the pattern! If I'm not bleeding to death it's critical to stop the flow, and then clean up the blood with a bleach solution of at least 15%, others must wear rubber gloves while cleaning it up. I wear a little medic alert pin to warn others of the HCV in case I'm unconcious.All things considered a blood test for HCV isn't that costly when you compare it to the lifestyle changes you need to make to make sure you don't accidently infect others. It's fortunate that the other body fluids don't contain enough viral copies to cause infection in others. The worst of it all is the either condescending attitude displayed by some, or the "moral" outrage that some project. It leaves one just a little colder towards the idiot masses that don't educate themselves. By the way the VA says that 85% of the people inducted during the Vietnam war have HCV. They didn't clean the injectors that they used to immunize inductees with. I doubt that they are all "druggies".Best of luck, hope you're negative, there are enough of us with this now!

[010081]

Hepa c is cause when you come in contact with blood.so be sure to use your own razors..