How long does hep c live outside the body

[angel2221]

I have read that it dies within 16 hours to 4 days on the cdc website now the website says 3 weeks.

[flyinlynn]

If hepatitis C infected blood was left undisturbed on that surface and you had open wet fresh weeping injuries that contacted that microscopic amounts of hepc infected blood in theory there could be an exceedingly  small chance but highly doubtful.

For example in the case of a healthcare worker who should experience an accidental needlestick involving a patient with known hepatitis C the odds of transmission are only about 1.8% .

In the scenario you have described  first you would need to have had one of the 4% of the population with hep c use the cart, then they would have needed to have a fresh bleeding uncovered injury. Then the fresh blood would have to remained undisturbed (so not left in the rain or rubbed off ) before you touched it and then you would need to have a fresh injury and press that old dried invisible blood into your injury.

You would need a set of circumstances exceedingly unlikely to occur.

So long story short essentially, No

[Chocolatenet]

Can hepatitis be transferred from touching a grocery cart if  someone has left  and used that cart?

[hepcandme]

Along with a Dr. Salks on Gilead's board, the world could use a Ryan White in the Fighting Hep C movement.

It took the Pope, kissing a child at Mission San Francisco de Asís in San Francisco, to make everyone stop blaming gays for getting HIV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White

I have not experienced this insult but I shudder when people opine about the discrimination they face in acknowledging that they have a life-theatening virus

We can do better than that. And yes, hoping that Hep C becomes a thing of the past. It's so weird for me to Not mention it every time I go to a doctor or dentist. Still becoming used to Not having Hep C, I guess

[flyinlynn]

As you said "cdc website now the website says 3 weeks. " The CDC (The Center for Disease Control and Prevention) is an official source of information.

[sparky43]

I noticed the same thing too.   In 2013 some researchers at Yale Medical School did a study on how long Hepatitis C can live outside the body and they found that under the conditions they set up, it could live up to six weeks outside the body.   They did say that a large amount of the virus did die rapidly in the first 10 days, but then a small amount that was left slowly died off after that.  I do remember them saying that it died off even faster in hot conditions - the 6 week figure was at 70 degrees but when the virus was exposed to warmer temperatures, it increased the die-off rate.  Humidity, the type of surface it was on and exposure to sunlight also effected the survival time.

I'm not sure why there is the big discrepancy that found that it only lasted 4 days in the original study and 6 weeks in the more recent Yale study.  And I can't find any explanation why the CDC (and other sites) are now saying 3 weeks.   I find it hard to believe they would just average out the difference between the two studies and say three weeks.   I suppose you could contact the CDC and ask them how they came up with the 3 week time period.

I'm not sure how this information effects anything.   You should use universal precautions when coming in contact with any blood, whether it is wet or dry.   Always assume that it is infectious material.   If you are going to clean it, wear gloves and use a 10:1 water/bleach solution (or any commercial disinfectant that specifically says it deactivates hepatitis c).   And this also does not change the fact that you need to get the blood into your bloodstream, which means infected blood deep into your body in order to become infected (as in a fresh deep cut, injecting IV drugs, receiving an infected blood transfusion, etc.).

Remember that medical personnel who are working on a patient who is positive for hepatitis c and accidentally stick themselves with a bloody needle only get infected at a rate of around 2%.   Hospitals maintain accurate records of this and anyone who suffers a needle stick must report it to the hospital staff, so the numbers are dependable.

And let's not forget that there is now a cure for hepatitis c - expensive at the moment, but with competition between manufacturers, that will change soon.   Hopefully, over the next few years, hepatitis c will disappear from the planet as a common disease like polio did (too bad there aren't any Dr. Salks on Gilead's board of directors).