Tig wrote:

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They have relaxed the heavy concern with reinfection, but I still think its a good idea to change them after a couple two or three weeks. Once your viral count has crashed, there isnt much chance of that happening. That doesnt mean it is safe for anyone else to use your personal items. Never share them. 

Things like toothbrushes, razors and nail clippers can trap blood particulate. There are studies that have shown the virus to remain infectious for up to 6 weeks on surfaces. The best disinfectant for contamination is a 1:10 bleach/water solution. I would use it as a soak for clippers, but dont advise using it to soak your toothbrush! I can guarantee it would taste kind of funky! 

Use our search function for additional information on this topic. If you have any questions, dont hesitate to ask.

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 thank you. i wonder why the doctors don't mention this; maybe it's in my  harvoni handbook

Hi Tig,

I never thought I'd see this thread again, but it is still relevant, and has valuable advice. I got a little OCD when I was on tx, bought a box full of toothbrushes...like about a hundred or so. I just found the box of toothbrushes recently while cleaning the garage. They are individually wrapped, will probably last forever. I'm sure I'll find a use for them someday.  

They have relaxed the heavy concern with reinfection, but I still think it’s a good idea to change them after a couple two or three weeks. Once your viral count has crashed, there isn’t much chance of that happening. That doesn’t mean it is safe for anyone else to use your personal items. Never share them. 

Things like toothbrushes, razors and nail clippers can trap blood particulate. There are studies that have shown the virus to remain infectious for up to 6 weeks on surfaces. The best disinfectant for contamination is a 1:10 bleach/water solution. I would use it as a soak for clippers, but don’t advise using it to soak your toothbrush! I can guarantee it would taste kind of funky! 

Use our search function for additional information on this topic. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

I'd say ... If it makes you feel better and reduces stress along with having even the smallest possibly of providing a means to prevent re-infection, Go for it!

I couldn't find any official, credible studies of this (there may be some, I just couldn't find them) but I choose to error on the side of caution with this one and change my toothbrush and razor once per week until SVR. Sure, I may waste $50 but it may be worth that just to feel better about it, let alone any other possible benefits. I've spent more for less important things many times.

Bottom Line: If it make you feel better ... do it!

Dave

Bumping this up due to interest. Will add a few links where we have discussed the subject of changing grooming items. The responses and opinions vary...

http://hepcfriends.activeboard.com/t44673475/change-your-toothbrush-and-razors/

http://hepcfriends.activeboard.com/t60605247/can-i-re-infect-mself-using-my-own-razor/

One of the things I heard over and over during the course of my illness was the warning to be careful of toothbrushes and razors so as not to infect those I lived with. Since I'm one of the people I live with, once I tested UND with Sovaldi and Olysio I threw out all my dental gear and got new. Why not? Sovaldi and Olysio cost about $150,000 (fortunately I didn't pay), my new dental gear cost a few bucks.

LOL

I'm so used to hard treatment I'm looking for stuff to do. I don't think there is any shame in thinking or questioning anything after all us relapsers been through. 3 for buck I'll just be safe too. Good luck with yours 

BS  

Bills   Seems if new toothbrush has no virus on it, and you test UND . Then any new UND blood  on it wouldnt cause reinfection.  Michaele   Think I'll get some dollar tree brushed 3 for $1 pack.

I have already had this thought since I stared harvoni and forgot to say something because of my brain fog

before my first week was up i bought 10  tooth brushes cost me 4$ and threw out all others I decided to change it once or twice a week or if i bled

Now that I am 3 weeks in I'm keeping a careful eye on any bleeds from teeth  and same with my razors I rarely cut my face but change disposable razors weekly also very cheap 

Out of fear I'm going keep changing. If a cheap toothbrush cost less than 25cents I can afford at least 24 for my treatment time even Razors. My thought is? Can I infect myself while being UND? soon I'll be UND then even cutting myself shouldn't matter I'm UND anyway?  My other rule is never share and personal item that could get blood on it that's just a no brainier for us.    

BS

Hi Sierrjen ,  very good info site , but I tossed   out the skin products  and  will replace them .  Q tips are a good idea for application. Some of the info on the site contradicted itself , but mostly  made sense. Thanks    Michaele

I still think it's possible to reinfect ourselves so I am not taking the chance. It's a few dollars so I will do it.

Even if it's no big deal I'm still not going to let my family member use my toothbrush or razors. gross

Yeah we shouldn't go overboard., I totally agree. so I found this handy dandy FAQ that you all might like to read. It addresses many things like Michaele mentions, also

http://hepatitiscnewdrugresearch.com/hey-can-i-get-hep-c-from.html

Ps: Michaele. you  could use a q-tip for an applicator

I have to agree with the others that some are worrying way way to much on reinfection....think about it,  if you are on tx and taking the meds isn't your blood also carrying the meds that kills ( prevents replication of )the virus? So in essence you would be treating your self to treated blood !

Do you have any reason to believe that only the virus can survive on a toothbrush but not the meds that prevent it's replication.

I believe this is why you don't hear Drs. Advising anything other than once you start tx replace those items once, and sterilize any items you want to keep but may have old blood on them.

Remember............HEP C is actually hard to catch and needs a blood to blood route, other body fluids are possible but it is remote statistically.

Hand lotions or creams? No offense but it's  borderline paranoia.

Relax and think positive it will do 10x more for your long term health than thinking about all the what ifs.....

Brownie , dont feel bad about this . Im greatful to have been made aware of the seriousness of reinfection  and the need to be aware of risks. Im so OCD that Im used to worring my self half crazy , think its all part of being bipolar. I think of it like a hobby. Sort of what can I torture my self with today.  Hope your doing well , Happy Newyear    Michaele

Michaele,

I am so sorry I've caused you so much grief when I brought up the toothbrush/razor helpful hint before you got your meds. It was a precaution, not something to dwell on. I was not told about this before I started treatment, only learned of it after 2 months into my 3 month treatment. I was UND after 1 month, so you see it didn't make a bit of difference for my outcome. I also have a bridge and my gums sometimes bled when I flossed under it. I am still undetected and it will soon be a year since starting in February 2014. So please, for your  own piece of mind and your livers sake, stop stressing over it.  Sincerely,  Brownie

Hmm,  does a liver have a sake? Teehee!

Hi Chris , when I had an EUS with biopsy in Nov. it caused some abrasions at gum line on the back of teeth. I had my teeth cleaned 2 wks ago , and they didnt seem concerned that it wasnt healing as fast as it should. Just told me to rinse with warm salt water. I floss alot , but that area will bleed if I floss or brush to hard. So Im very gentle with that area. Hope changing tooth brushes wkly or with know blees is enough. Suppose I could do the dollar tree for some cheapies and change daily bleed or not. I just hate using anything made in China in my mouth and they dont have Made in USA tooth brushes there. Hope your doing better.   Michaele

Hey Michaele

Thanks for your thoughts & reminders about the importance of changing our tooth brushes, believe it or not when I did my HCV ABBVie trial my clinic / nurse / doctor never trained us about our personal items / tooth brushes and this may have caused my relapse.

BTW way if you are bleeding from brushing you need to floss your teeth because the problem is not your teeth but your gums and cleaning the decaying debris by your gum line. I used flossing pics as they can be handled quite differently than the string floss. This will clear your bleeding problem in most cases if done once a day.

Have a great new 2015

matt 

Hi hrsetrdr , Im not sharing items, and plan on changing tooth brush every week now, and every time I make gums bleed by brushing to hard. I was concerned about my personal skin care products , they are almost full , but when one weighs the cost of $20 in products with a once in a life time RX of meds that are almost $100,000 , its easy to make decision to toss out products. I was using a little spoon with the solid coconut oil , but touched spoon to fingers to remove oil, so I may have had cooties on finger tips after having applied to skin. The face cream, I just dipped into with fingers and may have had a blemish ; causing contamination . Im making my self crazy with this. I use disposable razors, but rarely need to used one. Thanks and hope your doing well.     Michaele

 -just an update to my original post:

I ended up not replacing my toothbrush after one use, but did try to use up some of the disposables I had bought.  I did shave much less frequently, but that was more of a "retiree thing". 

OCD or not, I still think that sharing personal care items(especially razors) is not a good idea.

Hi Happy Newyear ,  I was wondering about things like skin care products: can they cause reinfection ?  Some products come in little tubs that one dips into. So if one has a tiny scab from scratching dry itchy skin and is  slathering creams or coconut oil on skin ; does a double dip infect the product ? Everyone knows frank blood is infectious , but so is dry blood sans scabs .  I know this is so OCD of me . but I had just replenished my skin care products a week before starting treatment. So do I toss out the product ? If I heat the coconut oil will it kill the virus ? Guess I'll just toss it all out. I just change out tooth brush for 2nd time. Sunday starts month 2, blood work appt on 1/6/15 .   Michaele

Hi Cinnamon Girl,  I was concerned because I knew for certain it had come in contact with bright red blood 2 morns in a row, about a tablespoon full. Had I not had a bleed I would not be concerned.    Thanks   Michaele

Hi folks, I have to say I agree with Malcolm here. 

Michaele, I had a partial denture when I did my 24 weeks of treatment and I didn`t clean it any differently than usual and I certainly didn`t use bleach on it.  I don`t use bleach or any other strong chemicals in my home anyway, the fumes make me dizzy.  

I`m not saying I was right, and other people may see it differently, but I just don`t think there`s any real need to panic about reinfecting ourselves in this kind of way.  I would follow the advice of your dental clinic and/or treatment nurse if you`re worried about it.

Mallani, I believe you, so Im going to try to give it a rest until I talk to dental clinic. They must have a way to disinfect dental works, as they have other Hep C pts. I also had bride repaired before and I do believe they have to disinfect them after collection.    Michaele

Tig, You sure got the OCD part correct thanks again.    Miochaele

I agree with Tig's comments.

All this stuff about re-infection seems over-the-top to me.

Michaele,

I really don't know what the action this treatment will have on your dentures or bridgework. I think the attention paid to proper cleaning as we mentioned earlier will likely be sufficient. I would hesitate using a bleach solution on them outside of the very weak ratio mentioned. I think if this was a problem we would have heard something about it by now. I would just pay close attention to using a recommended cleanser, brushing and thorough rinsing everyday. Do your best to not be OCD about it. Just do a good job, with a good product designed for daily care and I believe you'll be fine.

Tig

Thanks Tig ,   the bleach to water ratio on those sites is unbelieveable, I want to kill hepC virus not myself.

I have efferdent, but like I said its works on bacteria and grems not virus.Will that 1tsp bleach in 6oz h2o kill the virus on the dental work.  I never used bleach, but all the talk of reinfection is making me crazy .  Michaele

Here's a little info that I found on it. Some for, some against, and some ideas!

http://www.ada.org/en/science-research/ada-seal-of-acceptance/product-category-information/denture-cleansers

http://www.ehow.com/how_5418960_clean-dentures-bleach.html

http://www.dentalgentlecare.com/denture_home_care.htm

Complete dentures only can be soaked in a homemade solution of 1 tsp Clorox, 2 tsps Calgon (water softener NOT Calgonite detergent or bath oil), 6oz water. After soaking, thoroughly remove all cleanser by light brushing under tap water with a soft nylon toothbrush.  Do NOT place dentures with metal parts or soft lining material in this solution, as it wt will corrode/destroy the metal parts.

Tig

Hi, 3 weeks ago I woke up 2 mornings  in a row with blood in my mouth, I sleep with my dental work in, so I know it was exposed to blood. I looked on several sites that said it was ok to use the 1:10 bleach solution. I can remember people back in the 50s using bleach to soak dentures, bet they didnt have a ratio back then. One  can even sanitize retainers that arent the clear plastic.  If the material the dentures are made of absorb the chemicals and cause burns why would  CDC say ok. Im confused because efferdent kills bacteria and germs that cause funky mouth. Doesnt say anything about virus. When platelets and Wbc are low brushing teeth can cause a bleed.  Michaele

I don't normally add to these discussions because my knowledge of HCV is limited only by my experience with it.  From what my doctor told me, hep c is hep c.  The Gen Type identifies the corridor or origination point.  So, I guess it's possible to have two origination points but still it's the same virus.  So, one Geno type holding down another seems a stretch to me.

Now, about dentures.  Unless your gums are bleeding I'm not sure how this could be an issue.  I've had dentures and implants for 10 plus years.  I can tell you this, never, never, did I say never?  Never put your dentures in harsh cleaners, they will scratch the surface of the teeth and cause them to get more bio-matter in them and harder to keep clean.  Also, never use bleach on dentures, they also will scratch and can cause them to yellow.

If the hep c dies in air, seems just simply allowing them to air dry is enough.

Okay, back to being a spectator and still SVR.

Thanks Tig, I have teeth cleaning on the 12/17 so Ill ask. The few articles I found about the denture soaking  said ok to do but not to do to long as it could make pink of plate discolor.  A lot of people have scratch mark from the intense puritus pre TX, so I wondered. Maybe a long hot shower and a loofa could rid and scabs. Suppose all the shower gel scrunchies need to get tossed , too .  Guess I'll just start replacing soon. Dollar tree is the place to go now.  I read here, that a few people were aware of clearing in 2 wks, so I thought I'd get ready. Just started 2nd wk today.     Michaele

Hi Michaele,

You should contact the dental lab that made your plate/bridge and see if it would be harmed by immersion in a 1:10 solution. Something tells me that you don't want to do that. My concern is that the plate would absorb the hypochlorite solution and ruin it. If you couldn't get it all out of the material it would cause some ugly burns. So my recommendation is to not even try it. The lab might have some suggestions. But I think proper disinfecting with available products designed for it and strict attention to the cleaning procedure will be adequate for your protection.

As for the scabs, I would think that as long as you live, any blood or blood by product (scab), could harbor viral particles. Remember that even though we reach SVR and are considered cured, the belief is that SVR is maintained by the body's immune system. The possibility remains that we will always have live HCV virus hiding just under the microscope. But I have to remind you that the likelihood of relapse remains almost nil once SVR has been achieved. We always have to be cautious about exposure to our blood products, even though the risk is greatly diminished.

Tig

Hi Tig, I cant possibly be the only on on forum with bridge work or dental plate, how do we kill the virus on them .Do the tablets used to clean dentures and dental guards kill HepC . Would we soak in the 1:10 solution?  Michaele    And do scabs that are on ones body while in tx remain infected or are they  cleared when the rest of the body is ?  Looked it up 1:10 on plate ok partial with wire not more than 10 mins soak

-- Edited by Michaele on Saturday 13th of December 2014 05:44:19 PM

Here are a couple others for your review. I want to add that there are some that don't believe the risk is either that great or even proven. While that may be the case, the possibility exists and I believe it's far better to be cautious. Especially considering the ease with which the possibility can be eliminated. One link is another thread here and the other a dated (2006) report that I found worth reading.

HCV on Inanimate Surfaces

Hepatitis C - Contamination of Toothbrushes: Myth or Reality?

Tig

bumping this thread to the top

new tooth brush, new razor and new toe nail clippers for me

thank you barb, you are pretty awsome yourself!

You are an awesome lady Deidre. You have helped and continue to help so many by sharing your knowledge.  You are a blessing.

Thanks for being here and passing on this info.

Love, BL

On another note, something I'd like to add, that most probably know already, but there is the possibility someone doesn't.

When I was a CNA, I remembered the nurses and all talking crap about the hep c patients that were dying..no one wanted to be their nurse or cna, and we were made to suit up as if we were going to walk on the moon ( or at least that is the way it felt) I did not. I already knew I had it, and felt bad for the patients, left to die that wat, often times with no visitors. Something I would wish on no one. I finally got mad enough to tell them all I had it. You can imagine their shock, and of course they wanted to know, if the hospital, and human resorce knew I had it. I smiled and said yes, they knew before they hired me. It always amazes me how much even nurses don't know, ( like when my oldest was going to school to be a cna ( now in nurseing class) taught by a nurse, and the nurse asked her if she wore gloves around me at home.) But I took more risks with those patients figuring I already had it.

I didn't realize that just because ( at that time I had only been told I had 2a) I had hep c 2a didn't protect me at all from 2b or 1a, 1b , 3a, 3b 4 ect. D and so on. When my geno type changed, even the hepo doc had said it was rare, and he'd only ever heard of 3 cases. The guess was since geno testing is only capable of showing a single type, not multi types, it showed wichever one was the most dominant at the time. Now they guess I had both, maybe cleared the easiest during the first round of treatment which had been holding the 1a at bay. 1a was more destructive, and I went from und to 12 million 6 thousand in just 3 years, whereas before it had taken me 17 years to pass the 2 million mark. It came back with a vengence. And yes the doctors really do say the 2 was keeping the 1 at bay..they think. Now because geno testing is incapable of showing more than a single type, they have no idea if I still also had- have 2a, but knocked it back far enough to let the other become more dominant. There is no way to tell if I am fighting more than a single type.

 Moral to the story is just because you have some type of hep c does not mean you don't have to be careful around others wich may also have hep c but a differant strand. It's actually much more dangerous for us than a person that has none, because of how much more it taxs our livers. That is why when you have it, they want you vaccinated against hep A and B, because we can't afford to catch another. There may be someone else out there like me that figured they already had it, so they didn't have to take precations. Our immune systems are already heavily burdoned, and catching another type is dangerous for us. "At least six distinct HCV genotypes (genotypes 16) and more than 50 subtypes have been identified. Genotype 1 is the most common HCV genotype in the United States."

"

Can superinfection with more than one genotype of HCV occur?

Superinfection is possible if risk behaviors (e.g., injection drug use) for HCV infection continue, but it is believed to be very uncommon."http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hcv/hcvfaq.htm#d2

  Last but not least, it's not like chiken pox that you catch once when you are a kid if lucky ( I caught chicken pox from my kids in my 30's and it went down my throat and gave me chicken pox pnemonia, and almost killed me, and now my lungs are extreamly scarred, and scans show mutiple grandular nodulars califications "to numerous to count" so I have to get phnemonia shots.. can you imagine my system trying to fight that off on top of two types of hep c? yeah, wasn't good, and it really did almost kill me).

 But you catch chicken pox once and grow immune to it, whereas now kids are gettine vaccinces against it, but when I asked for one my doc had told me no, thinking I had probably caught it as a kid, and didn't remember, even though I told her I didn't. You can imagine how she felt when I got it, and was at death's door. She quit being my doc figuring she had failed me.

If and when we go SVR, does not make us immune to catching it again, just like we did the first time.

I was infected by shaving with a roomates razor, so I personally know the importance of keeping personal items away from everyone, and it makes sense to change out the brush often as we lower our infection with tx, good idea.

just putting this at top again for new people

Lot of 48 Toothbrushes Pepsodent Complete Care Soft=$35

10 different lots availabe

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-48-Toothbrushes-Pepsodent-Complete-Care-Soft-/120535709700?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c107cf804#ht_859wt_1177

or 

LOT OF 25 COLGATE 360 SOFT COMPACT HEAD TOOTHBRUSH

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-25-COLGATE-360-SOFT-COMPACT-HEAD-TOOTHBRUSH-/390354174240?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae2ec0120#ht_500wt_1198

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-24-ORAL-B-SOFT-TOOTHBRUSHES-/160671101518?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2568be724e#ht_500wt_965

LOT OF 24 ORAL-B SOFT TOOTHBRUSHES +39.20 2 lots available 

I have changed my toothbrush and razor weekly since I read about this somewhere else...all I can say is that it can't hurt.  They are kind of expensive, but so are the meds I am on.....and if there is even a slight chance I could reinfect myself.....it isn't worth risking. 

Best of luck to all

Thanks Deirdre

Something I never thought about!

Donna

Just wanted too bring this to the top of the list again, for all the new people that hadn't seen it.

What a great idea.  That never even crossed my mind.  I will buy Kevin some new toothbrushes as soon as he is 'undetected'.