Can hepatitis B spread via contaminated food?

Question

Hello doctor,

Is there any chance of hepatitis B spread through eating food contaminated with infected blood?

I would greatly appreciate any guidance.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Well, the whole blood and serum (white fluid within blood) contains large amount of virus, and virus can live on blood spots outside the human body for the duration of one week. So actually it depends upon how much blood, and how much time it has been on the stain that can determine the chances of acquiring infection if contaminated with food. So I guess my answer can be partially answering your query.

If you tell me the exact event I may be in a better position to tell you the figures. Otherwise, as a general rule, hepatitis B does not spread via food, having said that, it can still spread if blood contaminated food has been ingested. Since virus invades the human body when comes in close to mucosa (lining of our mouth) and then spread to blood within human. This happens in the same way as one infected person can transmit infection via kissing, hugging, sharing of a towel, spoon, plates, and so on.

If you are puzzled with all that information, I want you to simply get a blood test which test Hepatitis B surface antigen and Hepatitis B core total test for infection. It is a simple blood test that can give us a clue. it is better to conduct a follow up after testing.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hello,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Again to be very realistic with you it is plus minus call. Dried blood does not contain as much amount of virus as that of a fresh blood sample. To summarize, yes, there are some chances of acquiring infection.

I hope this clarifies your concern.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

Have a great day ahead.