I have a question for everyone who might know -

I was just wondering why the CDC and many doctors say that hepatitis C is not an STD and should not be tested for after sexual exposures, yet a lot of other sources say it can be transmitted sexually. I had unprotected sex with my old girlfriend (who tested clean for all STDs but I wasn’t sure about Hep C; she’s a low risk person for Hep C having used no drugs etc.) and my healthcare professional made me get HIV and HCV testing at the 12.5 week mark. Is it possible to get HCV sexually, and if so, is testing negative at 12.5 weeks good enough (odds wise, what are my chances of having it after testing negative then)?

I have none of the risks for Hep C besides this unprotected sex – no drug use, tattoos, blood transfusions etc.

From what I can remember, each time she had her period I used a condom. I don’t recall any rough form of sex that would draw blood (I don’t remember any anal) or having any cuts on my penis. This was over a year ago though.

I have also been told that there has never been one documented case of transmission from Female-to-Male of Hepatitis C, and the CDC admits to this too. This is according to Thanby, who runs www.hcop.org and posts on this site.

Thanks for your help!

There was written very many papers on this topic - but without clear conclusion.
It is generally accepted, that sexual transmission of HCV is possible, but not very probable.

In your case - testing 12 weeks after exposion should be ok. Only if you really know that your partner was HCV positive I would suggest to repeat the test 6 months after exposure.

Petr