Hepatitis and buddy breathing

[WarmWaterDiver]

I don't agree with your assessment on Hep A & B being a minor risk (if I'm reading your post correctly). There were fatalities in Pennsylvania a few years back, not because the folks lived in Pennsylvania, but because they consumed uncooked green onions that were grown in the tropics. This bankrupted the restaraunt chain Chi Chi's.

http://www.about-hepatitis.com/articles/chichis/chichis.htm

http://www.about-hepatitis.com/articles/chichis/chichis25.htm

Those of us who went through the 2005 hurricane season on the US Gulf Coast also know there were fatalities from exposure to flood waters and what all floated up with the flood waters. This was in the sub-tropics. Now think if you're stuck in a developing area during a tropical weather system landfall.

The US CDC has a schedule of recommended adult immunizations, but I don't think most folks pay attention to these, once they're free from the mandatory childhood immunizations.

We paid for our Hep A & B inoculations, but these are now covered 100% under our employer's wellness plan (as well as many others) - so corporate America is recognizing these risks as well and is taking steps to keep healthy employees.

That being said, my best defense to anything transmittable by regulator sharing is having my wife as my dive buddy.

 

[Lloyd]

I agree with Saturation. I have found an alarming number of patients who have hep b or c and don't know they have it. They also do not have any classic risk factors for contracting it. It is better to err on the side of caution. A regulator mouthpiece can irritate the gums and cause bleeding just like a toothbrush, I only dive with proven clean buddies. Of course if you have the choice of drowning or using a buddies reg. that you don't know about, I would choose the reg.
Lloyd

 

[M60]

I have Hep C. I am in the treatment program with the VA. The iVA treats more Hep C cases than anyone else in this country. Hep C was epidemic in Vietnam. There are NO studies indicating that Hep C is transferrable through sex. My wife and I har been married for years when it was discovered. I have been immunized for both A and B. A will kill you if you contact it and have C. I have been through the interferon program twice now, and have talked to many health care professionals regarding this virus. I got mine from blood exposure treating wounded and recovering the dead during the war. It is mainly transferred by blood transfusions. For years there was no test to insure the blood was safe. Thank god there is one now! If you are worried about your being possibily exposed it is a simple blood test to determine it. Untreated it will allow a secondary infection to take over and will possibly kill you. That's all I know about it. Forgive me for being long winded. Safe dives and cool winds forever. M60

 

[mdjh51]

Remember - Hep A and E are foodborne virus, spread through the oral-fecal route. You get it from food or water.

Hep B, C, and D are bloodborne pathogens. They are detectable in body fluids, and are typically spread through contact with blood, vaginal, or seminal secretions. Hep D you can only contract if you have Hep B first. M60, there are no studies proving that HCV is NOT spread by sexual contact. The literature is inconclusive, and it is a difficult topic to study as the latency period of HCV is very prolonged (years).

All in all, your biggest threat for hepatitis while diving is from unprotected sexual activity (all types) and the food and water (dont forget the ice!), especially in a foreign country, where the sanitation measures may not be "up to par" unless, of course, your HBV+ partner gashes her leg on the shore, and you get blood all over your hands as you attempt to help her (darn hang nails!!)

 

[Lloyd]

To make things even more uncertain, about 30% of hep b and 15 to 40% of hep c cases have an unknown source of infection. It makes me wonder at times.
Lloyd

 

[BigBill]

Free immunizations? Where? My local health department wants to charge approximately 35-65 per shot! I checked my insurance and I don't think they cover shots for "travel" purposes! What a crock!

 

[DreamSurfer]

This is an old thread, yet a very important one... You can have Hep. C (HCV) and be asymptomatic for years. Roughly 22 years ago, octopuses (alternative air sources) came into being required equipment for instructors, yet we continued to teach buddy breathing for many years, as many people didn't (many still don't) see the need for the extra expense of maintaining another 2nd stage, yet another piece of equipment to add on, and so on.

I suppose instructors, dive masters/safety divers, etc. had a far higher exposure rate to HCV, that was back then known as "atypical hepatitis B", which could also skew statistics or older findings - if you are Googling for "Hepatitis C + HCV", wondering if instructors & others back then were more prone to HCV, you will find 0 cases, as the name Hepatitis C didn't exist back then, although I was recently diagnosed with Hep. C with parvo & rheumatoid arthritis.

Swapping spit with classes of strangers for years AND remember the ocean is not that unlike bodily, fluids, saliva is thicker than ocean water & on a calm day, I can see where Hep. C could make it, esp. with the colder temps., then hitting another warm mouth a second or so later, that it wouldn't be difficult to pass from one person to another.

It would be interesting to run a study on older divers; especially instructors, AIs & safety divers to see if the incidence of Hep. C (Note that many who have Hep. C are asymptomatic & there is not now, nor was there then a vaccine for Hep. C, and HCV wasn't something we thought much about back then. I have seen older divers that have had strokes, MRSA and other diseases that seem to be a higher rate & more severe than the general population, yet this would be a great study for a grad student AND a great argument for keeping medical records for a lifetime & to be passed to family members when a person passes, as so much can be learned by carrying the records onward, and so much is lost by destroying records after only 10 years. An argument for people owning their own records too, as is done in many countries, as all too often a doctor retires or passes away and records are lost forever.

I bought some large filing cabinets at an auction years ago and after we got them to the house, I discovered they were full of medical records from a cardiologist (many with 3 to 5 year old pacemaker surgical records!) I did get a hold of a medical society that finally took the records & said they were going to contact the patients to be sure they got their records.) The doctor had died, his office equipment was being sold.

Sadly, there seems to this day to still be no standard for records transfers should a doctor pass away. Best to keep your own copies with notes along the way, as there is a LOT of long-term research that needs to be done.

I would STRONGLY suggest owning your own regulator w/ octopus, in your pre-dive, go over octopus breathing & make a standard of giving your buddy your octopus & vice versa in the event of an emergency.

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Dreamsufer. From Hepatitis C - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HCV is spread primarily by blood-to-blood contact associated with intravenous drug use, poorly sterilized medical equipment and transfusions

Hep A is the one you can get orally, and there is a vaccine - very good idea IMO, but still not acquire from mouthpieces I don't think.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Ditto Don. Hep C is a bloodborne pathogen. There's also considerable evidence that's transmitted sexually.