How long can HCV survive on cotton and gauze?

[D2018]

I practice dentistry in a centre at a rural area with minimum infection control strategies. Recently I was told that we have HCV patients who come regularly to the practice with no special infection  control following their visits.
I wanted to ask about the survival time of HCV on dry cotton wool  and gauze at room temperature?
Does alcohol multiple rinses kill the virus on sharp objects (suck as a blade) that is in direct contact with blood?

Thank you very much .

[flyinlynn]

Sounds like your first choice would be to use an autoclave.

Or discard the instruments.

[D2018]

You point is valid and every patient should be treated caustioisly as if they have an infectious disease. I am working in a poor area in third world countries .. where we have high load of patients and little amount of instruments. This is not an excuse .. but am trying my best to sterilize and disinfect everything that's why am asking.

[flyinlynn]

Still as a medical professional I would think you should have a better idea what would work of have medical information you could access as opposed to asking random patients on a illness survivor community forum.

Best of luck

[flyinlynn]

Also found this by google

Dental Instruments
Scientific articles and increased publicity about the potential for transmitting infectious agents in dentistry have focused attention on dental instruments as possible agents for pathogen transmission.207, 208 The American Dental Association recommends that surgical and other instruments that normally penetrate soft tissue or bone (e.g., extraction forceps, scalpel blades, bone chisels, periodontal scalers, and surgical burs) be classified as critical devices that should be sterilized after each use or discarded. Instruments not intended to penetrate oral soft tissues or bone (e.g., amalgam condensers, and air/water syringes) but that could contact oral tissues are classified as semicritical, but sterilization after each use is recommended if the instruments are heat-tolerant. 43, 209 If a semicritical item is heat–sensitive, it should, at a minimum, be processed with high-level disinfection. 43, 210 Handpieces can be contaminated internally with patient material and should be heat sterilized after each patient. Handpieces that cannot be heat sterilized should not be used. 211 Methods of sterilization that can be used for critical or semicritical dental instruments and materials that are heat-stable include steam under pressure (autoclave), chemical (formaldehyde) vapor, and dry heat (e.g., 320ºF for 2 hours). Dental professionals most commonly use the steam sterilizer. 212 All three sterilization procedures can damage some dental instruments, including steam-sterilized hand pieces. 213 Heat-tolerant alternatives are available for most clinical dental applications and are preferred.43

CDC has divided noncritical surfaces in dental offices into clinical contact and housekeeping surfaces.43 Clinical contact surfaces are surfaces that might be touched frequently with gloved hands during patient care or that might become contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material and subsequently contact instruments, hands, gloves, or devices (e.g., light handles, switches, dental X-ray equipment, chair-side computers). Barrier protective coverings (e.g., clear plastic wraps) can be used for these surfaces, particularly those that are difficult to clean (e.g., light handles, chair switches). The coverings should be changed when visibly soiled or damaged and routinely (e.g., between patients). Protected surfaces should be disinfected at the end of each day or if contamination is evident. If not barrier-protected, these surfaces should be disinfected between patients with an intermediate-disinfectant (i.e., EPA-registered hospital disinfectant with tuberculocidal claim) or low-level disinfectant (i.e., EPA-registered hospital disinfectant with an HBV and HIV label claim). 43, 214, 215

Most housekeeping surfaces need to be cleaned only with a detergent and water or an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant, depending of the nature of the surface and the type and degree of contamination. When housekeeping surfaces are visibly contaminated by blood or body substances, however, prompt removal and surface disinfection is a sound infection control practice and required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 43, 214

Several studies have demonstrated variability among dental practices while trying to meet these recommendations.216, 217 For example, 68% of respondents believed they were sterilizing their instruments but did not use appropriate chemical sterilants or exposure times and 49% of respondents did not challenge autoclaves with biological indicators.216 Other investigators using biologic indicators have found a high proportion (15%–65%) of positive spore tests after assessing the efficacy of sterilizers used in dental offices. In one study of Minnesota dental offices, operator error, rather than mechanical malfunction218, caused 87% of sterilization failures. Common factors in the improper use of sterilizers include chamber overload, low temperature setting, inadequate exposure time, failure to preheat the sterilizer, and interruption of the cycle.

Mail-return sterilization monitoring services use spore strips to test sterilizers in dental clinics, but delay caused by mailing to the test laboratory could potentially cause false-negatives results. Studies revealed, however, that the post-sterilization time and temperature after a 7-day delay had no influence on the test results.219 Delays (7 days at 27ºC and 37ºC, 3-day mail delay) did not cause any predictable pattern of inaccurate spore tests.

[flyinlynn]

As a medical professional I would think you received training in blood borne  pathogens. You should be using standard universal peecautions with all patients. Anyone can carry an infection they are not aware they have. Seems odd a medical practitioner would be asking laypersons on a patient support forum medical questions as opposed to a professional organization.

Not sure why you are concerned about how long hep c survives on cotton or gauze as I would assume those are disposed of as medical waste.

This is what I found on google. Bear in mind I am only a patient who was infected with hep c who is in no way a medical professional.

“Dried blood spots contaminated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and left on inanimate surfaces can remain infectious in ordinary room temperatures for up to six weeks“