How common is it to get hepatitis c from a tattoo gun?

How common is it to get hepatitis c from a tattoo gun (not the needle)?

How common is it to get hepatitis c from a tattoo gun?
it's not all that uncommon. hcv infected blood-whether dried or wet can transmit. dry blood lives much longer than any well known virus. all it takes is the right circumstances-a drop of dried blood unseen to the naked eye can fall off of the gun while the tattoo is being done-and can enter the blood stream where it can reconstitute.





no matter how many gloves are worn, cross contamination DOES happen. statistics say one in ten can acquire the virus through tattoos as a whole. researchers found that those who had a tattoo had a 6.5-fold higher risk of testing positive for hepatitis C than other subjects. however, infected subjects with tattoos were not at increased risk for acute hepatitis symptoms compared with their peers without tattoos.





most new infections these days are sharing drug paraphenalia (7.2%) and veterans (a 1-3 chance)
Reply:I wouldn't say "very very" and I wouldn't compare them with a hospital. If they follow the State rules and most now have rules and regulations, some still are catching up, some still are not. So, by careful. I'm in a State with a tattoo parlor in our city that I wouldn't walk into.
Reply:Very, very rare. Reputable tattooists change their needles for each customer (they are disposable), just like hospitals. For the guns themselves, most tattooists have an autoclave, which hospitals use to sterilize surgical instruments like scalpels. Check with your tattooist and ask him or her how they sterilize their equipment. They are happy to show you.





Edited to add: To the person below who wouldn't say "very very", I beg to differ.





There has been ONE case of hepatitis C linked to tattooing in the entire historical records of the Center for Disease Control. I'd call that pretty remote.





Every tattooist I've ever been to uses disposable needles, tubes and owns an autoclave. I go to reputable, mainstream studios and ask questions. I have 11 tattoos myself and never a single problem.
Reply:unlikely as they "should " be covered with plastic and sanitized. Regulated by city ordances. You should only go to reputable shops then you won't have a problem.