What type of Hepatitis do they test for in a standard STD test?

Question 1

What type of Hepatitis do they test for in a standard STD test?

Asked by
1andrew.charles1957
on October 13, 2013

I got blood drawn for STD testing today and the doctor said she was going to test for Hepatitis (B or C) I can’t remember which but it was only one type that she said. How come she didn’t test all of the Hepatitis’s (A, B, C etc)? Does testing for one type give indication of the others? Or are the other ones so uncommon that they aren’t tested for in a standard test? Or are the others not STDs? Just wondering, the office is closed until Monday so I wanted to just research a bit in the meantime. Thanks so much!

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Answers

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November 6th, 2016 at 2:27 pm

There are many types of hepatitis viruses, but they aren’t necessarily related, genetically speaking. They are just called “hepatitis” viruses because they cause liver disease. (“Hepat” means liver, “itis” means inflammation.) Therefore, one test will not detect the presence of all hepatitis viruses.

Hepatitis B will be included in an STD test because that particular virus is transmitted sexually quite easily. It is also possible for hepatitis A to be transmitted sexually (though contact with microscopic bits of fecal matter). Hepatitis C might be of concern if your sex play involves blood. But generally speaking, other hepatitis viruses are not considered to be STDs.

If you are sexually active, you might consider the hepatitis B vaccine. Hep B and HPV are both STDs that can lead to cancer, and both are vaccine-preventable.