Disposable razors during treatment.question

[48weeks]

So I may start treatment soon and this time I will try to do what everyone seems to be saying with regards to using disposable toothbrushes daily.  My question it do you really think I should also use disposable razors daily.  I have an electric razor that does not draw blood that I'm aware of anyway. So beyond those to differences in my daily routine can anyone think of anything else? Also once I get undetected, assuming that I do, would you think that I still need to use these disposable items?  Thanks

[Dee1956]

Hi all, I do understand what you are talking about but unless things have changed, once I got to UND I replaced everything then.  

As far as your retainer, have you bled on it?  Gosh I did not even think about my bite guards.  While I did replace my toothbrush as soon as I got to UND which was 4 weeks.


I just brushed my night guard.

In hindsight, if I had thought about this I would have taken 10% bleach and just brushed it.  I was told not to soak them in anything other than water as they could disintegrate.

I did try to be thorough about other things, but I never cut myself with my nail clippers so no need to worry about.

Pooh is right, when we treated in the Incivek class of 2011/2012 HCV was thought to live on surfaces for 4 days.  Recently someone posted it was 6 weeks and they supplied their back up.

Pooh is a nurse as well so I usually defer to her experience.
Dee

[Sarah1949]

Hmmm, I think I'll try the bleach on the brush I use to clean my retainers and if it remains in one piece, I'll try soaking the retainers in it. I wonder if 10% is enough though. I'll try google.

[dontworry_behappy1]

A solution of 10 percent bleach in water kills hepatitis C is my understanding.
I don't know about hydrogen peroxide.  

[Sarah1949]

I change my toothbrush every couple of weeks, but I am more concerned about my retainers because they cost $200 to replace and that's a lot of money for me. So what I've been doing is soaking them in hydrogen peroxide once a week for about 10 minutes, but I have no idea if this will work to kill the virus.
As far as things like clippers, I've put them aside and will let them sit for a total of six weeks without using them. Six weeks is the longest time I've heard of for the virus to stay alive on a surface. I'm doing the same with my backup retainers and then won't use the present ones for another six weeks after eot. That plus the hydrogen peroxide should do the trick.

[pooh55811]

Livelife .....

"The recommendation is focused on toothbrushes, razors, and nail clippers."
..............................................

"toothbrushes, razors, and nail clippers"   are all examples of fomites.


To look at the data in the articles just copy and paste the listed site addresses into your URL and the articles will come up. These are all reputable sites with scientific data and results.

[Livelife777]

Sorry guys
Not computer savvy and don't know how to repost sources explicitly on any venues.  As mentioned in a prior post I'm an avid reader and don't illicit remarks unless I've verified the source.
Perhaps in my spare time I should invest in some much needed computer classes and skills.
Thanks for your understanding.
.....Kim

[dontworry_behappy1]

Thanks for posting complete clarification on how long hepatitis C can live on surfaces.  

Best to you

[Livelife777]

MedicineNet.com
The virus can live weeks, months, or even years inside or outside the body.
Aworriedmom is correct that we thought it was 4 days, but new evidence is to the contrary.  This was found to also occur in transfused blood as many were infected beyond the then known incubation period.
Will this likely happen?  Doubtful.
But we should at least be diligent but not paranoid.
The recommendation is focused on toothbrushes, razors, and nail clippers.
.....Kim

[pooh55811]

40 % of people have no idea how they got Hep C. Fomites and nosocomial infections are probably responsible for many of them.

"In conclusion, we have demonstrated that HCVcc can remain infectious at room temperature for up to 6 weeks. Our hypothesis of potential transmission from fomites was supported by the experimental results and provides the biological basis for recent observational studies reporting increasing incidence of nosocomial HCV infections ....."

http://www.natap.org/2013/HCV/120513_03.htm

[AWorriedMom]

Bottom line is no one knows how long the virus can live outside the body. In the 1990's it was thought to be 4 days. Then some scientists found live virus after 2 weeks. Now some are saying 6 months. In order for the virus to survive outside the body, the environment has to be perfect. So, what is perfect? Also, just because the virus is alive does not mean it can replicate. If it were a big problem that the virus lived outside for long periods of time, there would be many more cases of the virus being transmitted that way and there are no cases on record.

[pooh55811]

The Hep C virus can live outside of the body on fomites (objects, surfaces) for 6 weeks.

"Journal of Infectious Diseases Advance Access published November 23, 2013"

"In our simulation of real world risks of HCV transmission in settings conducive to exposure to HCV-contaminated fomites, we observed that HCVcc (cell culture derived HCV) could maintain infectivity for up to 6 weeks at 4° and 22°C....."

http://www.natap.org/2013/HCV/120513_03.htm

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/11/22/infdis.jit648.abstract


"Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in dried droplets of blood or plasma can remain infectious on uncovered surfaces at temperatures of 4° or 22° C (39° or 72° F) for up to 6 weeks,"

"Bleach (1:10 dilution) was the most effective antiseptic tested, with 1 minute of exposure eliminating infectious HCV in 100% of spots, followed by the commercial medical disinfectant CaviCide (1:10 dilution; 94% of spots) and 70% ethanol (87% of spots)."

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hepatitis-c/hepatitis-c-topics/hcv-prevention/4446-hepatitis-c-virus-can-live-on-surfaces-for-up-to-6-weeks


Changing toothbrushes every couple of weeks is NOT a bad idea.

[James10500]

Shaving and a TB have nothing to do with tx. You should have started doing this the second you were diagnosed.

And the virus does not live outside for six months!  That's ridiculous.

[dontworry_behappy1]

"The virus can live outside the body for up to six months"
_____________________________

Can you provide an explanation on how this can happen.   I find your statement interesting.  

[HealingHearts]

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the hep c virus can only live on inanimate objects up to 4 days.

[Livelife777]

The virus can live up to 6 months outside the body.

This may seem like a silly idea to change toothbrushes and razors every couple of weeks, but then again why take a chance.  It costs approx $100,000.00 to treat this virus.  A few $sss for a disposable razor or toothbrush now and then will not break the bank.  I throw out my old
razors and toothbrushes anyway without this nasty virus!
Just my thoughts
.....Kim

[keepingOnkeepingOn]

I changed my toothbrush once a week during S/O tx. I'm not taking any chances either. Disposable razors I toss after one use. Dollar store had a pack of 6 brushes. I bought 2 packs for the 12 weeks. My journey, my choice.

[hepc4Sandi]

Thanks, I didn't know that at the time, I soaked them for a whole day. Fortunately I did get cured.

[gringogirl]

Only bleach will kill the virus outside....

[hepcandme]

This has never made any sense to me and I Loathe the thought of all that plastic going into a landfill

If your gums don't bleed when you brush your teeth, how could you reinfect yourself? I asked my doctor and others at the hospital and in my support group and they thought it was ridiculous and unnecessary  to change your toothbrush daily

Still, I relapsed so I am going to call Gilead before starting treatment to ask them what they recommend

Seems that someone on this group said that Gilead recommended that those treating should change their toothbrush every 2 weeks for those on S/O?

It was news to my medical team but we'll see what Gilead has to say

[hepc4Sandi]

I read on this forum that the virus can on surfaces for 6 weeks. If I were a man, an electric razor is probably a good solution. I used disposable razors that I tossed after 1 use, and tossed toothbrushes after 1 week. I also cleaned all my nail clippers, metal nail files several times with soaking in alcohol. I also tossed old lip sticks and glosses. I didn't want to take any chances.

[dontworry_behappy1]

This is a interesting practice.  " Changing out all your personal items ".
Aren't you being treated with heavy drugs to kill that virus?   Protecting others from your personal items while having chronic Hep C would be a concern.   Finally, protecting yourself from others who could have the virus would be a good practice.  And that's just about everyone....so never use others person items again.

Never worried about re-infecting myself during treatment.  Others on treatment at the same time didn't seem to give this much concern.   Treatment drugs seem to kill everything in its path.    I would question if re-infection is even possible from your own blood while on treatment.   Most likely kill the virus as soon as it comes in contact with your saturated blood
with strong Hep C treatment drugs.  

[bassetgirl]

I changed toothbrushes every couple of days as soon as I was undetected at 8 weeks: bought them at Kmart in packs of 4 for $4.  There seemed to be some good logic behind doing that since the virus can be viable on surfaces for several days at least. For that small amount of money compared to $170,000 cost for Sovald/Olysio for 3 months, plus wanting to give myself the best chance at SVR, I thought it made sense to change toothbrushes.  I also threw away old sewing needles and anything else I could think of that had been in contact with my blood while I had the virus. Now that I've reached SVR I can't say whether that was a factor or not, but it did seem to make sense at the time.

[48weeks]

Once in awhile I see a slew of posts of people insisting that should be a part of treatment since the virus and stay on surfaces for several days to weeks. I don't bleed when I brush my teeth or use my electric razor that I'm aware of, but I suppose there could be micro drops. It seems weird to me but with the amount of posts I've seen on it, I guess I assume there must be some kind of intelligence behind it.

[AWorriedMom]

It really isn't necessary to change your toothbrush daily and certainly not an electric razor. While you are undetected and still on treatment it really doesn't make a difference as the drugs that work on your virus are still circulating in your body. It is necessary to change at the end of treatment.