talk me down from being furious!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I work in public health. It's fairly common

@DearDenimEagle As PPs have said, shigella can sometimes cross into the blood stream. The presence of viable bacteria in the blood is called bacteraemia. Normally, your immune system deals with it with no symptoms or mild symptoms like fever. It doesn’t necessarily progress to septicaemia (I think a PP suggested that he would have sepsis if he had shigella in his blood).

I suppose it might be theoretically possible he caught it from blood but it’s not a known mode of transmission. I would think it more likely that he caught it by one of the known methods of transmission touching the patient’s hand when he grabbed his arm, touching things the patient had touched when caring for them or the loo handle/taps, or he caught it from a colleague who caught it from the patient etc. You can’t really know because there are so many different ways that the 7 members of staff could have been infected.

I would guess that he is assuming he caught it from the blood because he “saw” the blood and you can’t see bacteria, so he is putting 2 + 2 together and making 5, ditto that is why he thinks shigella is a “blood infection”.

OP, I would point out to him that if “medical professionals” have a protocol that requires 2 clear tests before he returns to work to prevent him infecting vulnerable patients, why does he feel he shouldn’t protect the vulnerable members of his family in the same?

TBF, if he actually were a “medical professional” he could probably make a good argument as to why there is only a very low risk after 1 clear test and it is far easier to take measures to prevent transmission at home but he probably won’t be able to do that… As much as that is true, I wouldn’t want to take the very small risk to my vulnerable family members for the sake of a day out. That’s pretty selfish and even more selfish to decide to take the risk for them by not telling you up front rather than letting you/them make that choice.

I really wouldn’t be concerned about catching shigella from him after giving him a lift, OP, so don’t stress. I would be very angry with him though.

Are you labouring under the misapprehension that the RBCs go to the gall bladder to be broken down? They break down in the blood stream. The RBCs never enter the gall bladder.

Water, bile acids, bilirubin, cholesterol, phospholipids, electrolytes... I presume your argument is that bilirubin is derived from haemoglobin from broken down blood cells, but the red blood cells never enter the gall bladder. If you have red blood cells in your poo it is a worrying problem. That's what the FIT test checks for, and if positive for even microscopic amounts buys a colonoscopy in an older adult.

Yes, and what is bile made from?

• Bilirubin: A breakdown product of red blood cells, bilirubin is the main pigment in bile.

That's bollocks. The colour comes from bile. That's why you get white stool with obstructive jaundice.

Poo is brown because of all the red blood cells in it.

A consultant in a meeting told us that if people knew that they often carry shigella they'd be a bit more attentive to personal hygiene!

I’d go to his work. Ask what’s going on. Tell what he said and ask about the other 6 how they are and ask what safety precautions do you really need to take.

It could be Hepatitis A. All healthcare workers are vaccinated against Hep B which is blood borne. Hep A is spread by oral faecal route (can be passed via food when someone serving food hasn’t washed their hands after pooping) which is different but both affect the liver. Public Health would normally be involved and the whole family would require vaccinating against Hep A. He’s saying he’s caught it from applying pressure to a wound therefore is likely Hep B which he should be vaccinated against. Is that right? There are no antibiotics because Hepatitus is a virus, but he could be on antivirals. Can he show you the box of medicine he has been prescribed? And then google search to work out what his medication is for. I’m presuming he’s off work? You could say to him that the whole family need vaccinating as a precaution, which you will do if you’re at risk of Hep A … see how he reacts? You don’t want to get Hepatitis, very nasty, so it might be worth getting advice from Public Health or your GP if it turns out he is telling the - confused - truth.

I can’t decide what I want for you tbh - a joke taken too far / impacts your relationship or potentially at risk of Hepatitis. Neither are great. 🌸

Exactly this! I think your husband needs to decide where his loyalties lie....

Reading the rest, he wasn’t diagnosed with it, if he had to look it up on google.
He’s a lying fantasist. There’s a difference between infectious and contagious, too. Handwashing is a thing for one year olds lol. Every parent should be teaching a child that from when it starts to crawl if not before, like sitting up, playing with toys..wash hands before a snack etc

I haven’t read the full thread but my mum caught shigella years ago - apparently it was from lettuce that hadn’t been washed properly in a cafe. We know this as it is a notifiable disease and they traced it back to lettuce imported from Spain. So it doesn’t mean he’s some unhygienic grimbot, he could have caught it anywhere.
It made her very ill though, she was sick with it for at least two weeks and felt dreadful for another couple of weeks after that. It really took its toll.

I’m puzzled. Only read this far but if you can only get it by touching his poop, how did he catch it by stemming blood?

Exactly. HCAs are an essential, important part of the NHS who do an amazing and difficult job but they are not healthcare professionals as they do not have a healthcare professional qualification eg doctor, dentist, nurse, psychologist, physiotherapist, pharmacist etc He is a healthcare support worker. He doesn’t even sound like a very “professional” HCA 🙄

HCAs do a very valuable job within the NHS, and many of them are truly excellent at what they do. But "medical professional"?! Nope.

Edited as posted in error

He's crackers.

@furiousnana "health care professional"???? what does he do in nhs??? did he go to uni to become the health care professional he professes to his partner that he is?

Stick to your guns. Don’t put your children at risk.