Well, I am visiting my family as most of you know... my aunt who lives with my mom, at the house I am staying in has a bad habit of letting children chew on her finger. Well I know for sure right now my son is in the early stages of teething (excessive chewing, low grade fever, drooling, less eating/sleeping)... my aunt has taken care of more children than you can count on both hands and is an RN herself. Well she has stage 4 hep c, and when I came in the living room and saw she had her finger in his mouth and he was gnawing away, it made me uneasy, but I have drank from her cup as a child a lot before and she has helped me with cuts and stuff with her bare hands now that I think about it... but I took a teething ring to her to try and steer him from chewing on her finger, so I didn't have to say anything and make it sound like she has a plague or something.. well I saw a small needle-point size cut on her cuticle (not bleeding) ow I am like really uneasy...
I am making an appointment for a pedi here in cali to verify he is teething and to get set up for shots... I think I will also tell him about this. Please ease my mind..
Re: A bad habit...
I would hope that the chance your son is infected would be minimal but please don't let it happen again. You shouldnt even have to ask her not to do that as she knows better but in that situation stick up for your childs wellbeing.
I personally don't want anyone's hand in my lo mouth and wouldn't be afraid to ask them to stop.
Not letting her do it again. I am going to talk to her about it though...
I'd let your pediatrician know, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.
My husband has hepatitis C (he contracted it when he was very young via plasma transfusion); when we first found out about it a few years ago, I was worried I'd possibly contracted it from him by accident, but his doctor said that as long as we aren't having direct blood-to-blood contact, transmission risks are very, very low.
Hopefully that makes you feel better. Keep us updated on what your pediatrician says though.
She got it from blood transfusion too... and I didn't see any cuts in my son's mouth..his teeth haven't cut yet either, so I am hopeful. I will tell him.
Ginny DX 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Charlie DX Specific Antibody Deficiency & ASD