Patient's question:
My wife is a hepatitis B patient and is currently undergoing interferon treatment. Last night, after an argument, she scratched me with her finger, causing small beads of blood to form. Previously, I had received the hepatitis B vaccine and developed antibodies. Could I be infected?Doctor's answer:
HBV is primarily transmitted through blood and blood products, mother-to-child transmission, and sexual contact. Perinatal transmission is the main mode of mother-to-child transmission, mostly occurring during childbirth when contact with the blood of an HBV-positive mother. Bloodborne transmission became more prevalent in the 1980s due to poor hygiene conditions, the lack of single-use syringes, and the absence of HBsAg screening in blood donations. Among China's 120 million hepatitis B carriers, approximately one-third were infected in the 1980s as a result of surgical procedures.