Recently, I just found out that one of my teammates has Hepatitis B.
I asked several doctors and health practitioners on their opinion on the matter. Some say it has no risk, some say it has some minimal risk.
I would train with him no problem, but the problem is, you can not tell everyone about his condition as it violates his privacy.
Is it your right to know the medical condition of your training partners?
Thoughts?
You can’t make someone tell you they have a condition which is not ideal for your training partner. Although my opinion is that anyone who is a reasonable human being should inform their coach and training partner to mitigate risk. Recently (at age 48) I ended up with Shingles on my neck near the C7 vertebrae on the right side. Shingles is contagious when in blister and can pass onto anyone who has not had the varicella immunization or had chickenpox. I informed my coach, watched training sessions, and when the blister had gone returned to drilling and rolling. I covered the affected area too and informed anyone who asked when they wanted help with a technique since even though I’m a blue belt I sometimes help the new whites. Some people were happy to have me demonstrate this way, that said, I did not conceal any of my health issues. Only one or two were bothered by my revelation and did not want contact. Overall the main issue Is whether or not everyone we roll and train with adopts the same level of concern for their fellow training partners as I did for mine. As I’ve revealed there are plenty of medical issues out there which could be passed on. Thankfully I didn’t have crabs or scabies!
stuartmulligan, post: 62637, member: 34759
You can’t make someone tell you they have a condition which is not ideal for your training partner. Although my opinion is that anyone who is a reasonable human being should inform their coach and training partner to mitigate risk. Recently (at age 48) I ended up with Shingles on my neck near the C7 vertebrae on the right side. Shingles is contagious when in blister and can pass onto anyone who has not had the varicella immunization or had chickenpox. I informed my coach, watched training sessions, and when the blister had gone returned to drilling and rolling. I covered the affected area too and informed anyone who asked when they wanted help with a technique since even though I’m a blue belt I sometimes help the new whites. Some people were happy to have me demonstrate this way, that said, I did not conceal any of my health issues. Only one or two were bothered by my revelation and did not want contact. Overall the main issue Is whether or not everyone we roll and train with adopts the same level of concern for their fellow training partners as I did for mine. As I’ve revealed there are plenty of medical issues out there which could be passed on. Thankfully I didn’t have crabs or scabies!
And why can you not tell people? Unless you're privy to his health history via work, you're not bound by HIPAA. You can think it's a dick move to disclose something like that, but it's also a dick move on his part to not disclose when we're in close proximity and there is a chance of fluids being swapped through various means.
That being said, something like this should be disclosed and people should decide from there, on their own.
I would push him/her to disclose it to the gym, as bleeding is common in grappling sports.
I live in a territory where almost everyone is vaccinated against HBV and knowledge of the disease is well-publicized as it is a leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common type of liver cancer). But in the US, vaccination rates are low, and awareness of the disease is low too. Letting people know of the issue can allow training partners to take safety precautions, especially going to get vaccinated.
I understand it's a tough one because he/she probably doesn't want to be stigmatized, especially if you live in a territory where no one knows what HBV is and might overreact. But it is the most responsible thing to do. Other peoples' ignorance does not absolve one of their disclosure obligation.
I agree with the doctors you consulted that the risk of spread in the gym is very low. But that being said, I don't agree with those who say it is "zero". There have been outbreaks of HBV in contact sports teams (including sumo wrestling and American football) in the past, some of which are described in this old 2007 article:
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2659063/
The safest thing to do is to get vaccinated against HBV, even if no one in your gym has HBV. You never know who you will be competing against, or who will be visiting your gym.
Treat everyone like they're infected. The moment you or someone else starts bleeding, it needs to be taken care of immediately.