Hep B positive

Started by wondering1
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wondering1

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So i know that in order to start rotations, you have to get a TB, MMR and Hep B titers done. What if your Hep B titer is positive...does that mean they dont let you do rotations? Does that mean you cant be a physician anymore? Please respond if you have any insight into this thanks.
 
You want your titers to be positive.

This means that you should be immune to the disease if exposed.

Being Hep-B positive could mean many things, as you will eventually learn about all the antigens etc.

People with Hep-B (the virus) can still be doctors. You just have to take all the precautions that you should be taking all the time.

Hope this helps!

The hep-B titer is really most important in the clinical setting if you get a needle stick from a hep-b patient. It gives you an idea about how much you need to worry.
 
I would probably test positive on a TB test mainly because I live in a country where TB is prevalent. I have always wondered what other countries would say if I tried to immigrate.
 
Yeah, if you've had hep B that resolved itself in the past, you'll have surface antibodies that protect you against reinfection. If you have had the vaccine you will also have these antibodies. They're only worried that you shouldn't be infected through a needle stick since the rate of transmission is pretty high.

Concerning PPD: if you show up positive they do further testing before you get to do stuff in the clinic.
 
If you have only anti-HbSAg IgG, you are good to go. If you have negative titers, you will need the vaccine series. If you have any antigens (not antibodies) and you weren't recently vaccinated, it means you most likely have Hep B. If you have it, you will probably need titers that prove you have cleared the infection before you can have patient contact.

After positive PPD, they usually want a chest xray that shows no active disease. Some places might "encourage" you to take antibiotics if you haven't already.
 
If you are HepB positive and have never been vaccinated, you are not becoming a doctor.
 
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McGillGrad said:
Yup, looks like we are both serving up the same pile of steaming truth.
Click to expand...

OFFS...

UCSD:

https://meded-portal.ucsd.edu/advisor_student_hb/2003/student_health.cfm

The Center for Disease Control has recommended that all health care workers who are HIV positive or hepatitis B surface antigen positive refrain from participating in "exposure prone procedures" unless they are approved by an expert panel. Students are not generally operators or assistants in "exposure prone procedures" (see http://meded.ucsd.edu/osa/resources/docs/), but those students who are HIV or hepatitis B surface antigen positive should identify themselves to the Vice Dean for Medical Education so that appropriate confidential counseling can occur.
 
You left out this sentence that preceded your quote, "While there have been few documented cases of health care workers transmitting HIV to patients, many health care workers have transmitted hepatitis B to patients, ..."




KeyzerSoze said:
OFFS...

UCSD:

https://meded-portal.ucsd.edu/advisor_student_hb/2003/student_health.cfm

The Center for Disease Control has recommended that all health care workers who are HIV positive or hepatitis B surface antigen positive refrain from participating in "exposure prone procedures" unless they are approved by an expert panel. Students are not generally operators or assistants in "exposure prone procedures" (see http://meded.ucsd.edu/osa/resources/docs/), but those students who are HIV or hepatitis B surface antigen positive should identify themselves to the Vice Dean for Medical Education so that appropriate confidential counseling can occur.
Click to expand...
 
McGillGrad,

You are wrong. I've been involved with ID/hospital epi. discussing this very issue in real settings. SHEA recently came up with new guidelines on this, look them up. It depends on the particulars of the infection but there is no reason why some one with HBV can't go to med school and be a doctor. There may be certain fields (i.e. surgery, obgyn etc) that are inaccessible but certainly not prohibited from practicing much of medicine.

Please take your arrogance and baseless assertions elsewhere.
 
This is your opinion, not fact.

There is no proof besides individual medical school policy.



francisco84 said:
McGillGrad,

You are wrong. I've been involved with ID/hospital epi. discussing this very issue in real settings. SHEA recently came up with new guidelines on this, look them up. It depends on the particulars of the infection but there is no reason why some one with HBV can't go to med school and be a doctor. There may be certain fields (i.e. surgery, obgyn etc) that are inaccessible but certainly not prohibited from practicing much of medicine.

Please take your arrogance and baseless assertions elsewhere.
Click to expand...
 
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McGillGrad said:
I would disagree with this statement. I am correct depending on the situation.
Click to expand...

You said without any qualification "you are not becoming a doctor". This is the first time you really made any qualification. Perhaps you should take a logic class. And, really, no matter what, given special accomodations (which happens all the time for different sorts of people) you should be able to get through med school without having to use a sharp object on a patient and then go into a field where you never use sharp objects on patients. And if a school kicks a student out for having HBV, they would get sued and lose. So there is really no situation where your statement is correct.

Learn to admit when you are wrong, it will serve you well in life.
 
You are 100% wrong about the bold part.

francisco84 said:
You said without any qualification "you are not becoming a doctor". This is the first time you really made any qualification. Perhaps you should take a logic class. And, really, no matter what, given special accomodations (which happens all the time for different sorts of people) you should be able to get through med school without having to use a sharp object on a patient and then go into a field where you never use sharp objects on patients. And if a school kicks a student out for having HBV, they would get sued and lose. So there is really no situation where your statement is correct.

Learn to admit when you are wrong, it will serve you well in life.
Click to expand...
 
McGillGrad said:
You are 100% wrong about the bold part.
Click to expand...

100%? Wow, that's a lot of percent. In that case I must be wrong 🙄

For your sake, I hope you are just having fun by playing the part of a troll and aren't like this in real life. If you are like this, then best of luck to you because you are going to need all the luck you can muster.
 
francisco84 said:
100%? Wow, that's a lot of percent. In that case I must be wrong 🙄

For your sake, I hope you are just having fun by playing the part of a troll and aren't like this in real life. If you are like this, then best of luck to you because you are going to need all the luck you can muster.
Click to expand...


Excellent example of Burnett's Law👍
 
McGillGrad said:
Excellent example of Burnett's Law👍
Click to expand...


Never said anything about you being a doctor. I was more thinking about you not having any friends. Reading your posts over the years, I know you are fairly intelligent. Just you're a giant donkey. Like I said earlier, go take a logic class. And I'll add, read "How to win friends and influence people"
 
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francisco84 said:
Never said anything about you being a doctor. I was more thinking about you not having any friends. Reading your posts over the years, I know you are fairly intelligent. Just you're a giant donkey. Like I said earlier, go take a logic class. And I'll add, read "How to win friends and influence people"
Click to expand...


I think I'm starting to grow on you. Like a giant sweet fungus.
 
McGillGrad said:
If you are HepB positive and have never been vaccinated, you are not becoming a doctor.
Click to expand...

95% of people who become infected clear Hep B themselves and become immune*.


EDIT: From Hepatitis B: Diagnosis and Treatment. American Family Physician - Volume 81, Issue 8 (April 2010).
 
Last edited:
McGillGrad said:
I would disagree with this statement. I am correct depending on the situation.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the situation where the person has hep B and doesn't get to be a doctor because they die of liver failure before graduation?

I hope that's not your argument, though it's the only possible valid one you could have.
 
There are two types of people with Hep B. Those who contract it in utero or as a child and those who contract it as an adult. As two posters prior said, 95% of ADULTS clear the infection and do not develop chronic hepatitis. A majority of those in the other group develop chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, or HCC.

Hepatitis B is a huge problem in Asian countries where many mothers pass it to their children. Therefore, the asymptomatic children are not diagnosed until many years down the road when they develop chronic hepatitis B.
 
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