Question re: Hepatitis B and grappling

**MEGALEF** · Posted On: 9/27/2012 11:35am

Has anyone here ever heard of hepatitis b being transferred by training grappling arts (wrestling, judo, bjj, et c)?

A person in my team recently came down with the disease. The local authorities are recommending everyone in the team to get vaccinated and are offering it to us for free (I've already scheduled an appointment). But reading about the transferability for hep b on wiki and googling 'hepatitis b wrestling' and coming up pretty much empty handed I'm wondering if anyone here has had any experience with it. If hep b transmittence was an issue within grappling I'd expect y'all american college wrestlers to have some documents on it.

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 9/27/2012 12:17pm

Here ya go:

Sweat May Pass On Hepatitis B In Contact Sports

ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2007) — Sweat may be another way to pass on hepatitis B infection during contact sports, suggests research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0301102707.htm

**MEGALEF** · Posted On: 9/28/2012 12:44am

Interesting. Thanks.

Has anyone had any experience with this in their own teams?

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 9/28/2012 1:34am

That study is somewhat weak to be fair; but if your grappling experiences are like mine where abrasions are common, it would be prudent to assume you are "at risk" of infection and should behave accordingly.

OSHA factsheet re HepB here: http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_Bloo...s/bbfact05.pdf

**1point2** · Posted On: 9/29/2012 1:07am

I've seen hepatitis, I recall not which kind, transmitted via judo. Made two guys sick for a few weeks.

**Mr. Machette** · Posted On: 9/29/2012 2:45am

Just take the free vacine and sleep sound.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 9/29/2012 5:56am

Originally Posted by ChenPengFi

That study is somewhat weak to be fair; but if your grappling experiences are like mine where abrasions are common, it would be prudent to assume you are "at risk" of infection and should behave accordingly.

OSHA factsheet re HepB here: http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_Bloo...s/bbfact05.pdf

I have to go through a three hour bloodborne pathogens refresher class every year. One of the key points is that human skin is a barrier unless it is broken in any way.

My hands seem to always be skinned up; with my regularly dealing with people in a 'hands-on' manner, I really appreciate my gloves. I also learned that hep-b is more prevalent than HIV. Bottom-line; although I've already had the vaccines, I'd just rather not take the risk.