A 56-year-old member asked:
Can the hepatitis b or c virus survive outside of the bloodstream?
1 doctor answer
Dr. Camilla Graham answered
26 years experience in Infectious Disease
Unfortunately, yes: Both hepatitis b and c can survive for days, and perhaps even over a week, outside the body. This is why ever sharing any paraphernalia, including cookers, for drug use could lead to infection.
Getting "stuck" with a needle, or reusing needles for injections like testosterone or vitamins, can also lead to hepatitis b or c injection.
Always be careful at tattoo parlors, piercing places, etc.
Answered on Mar 13, 2015
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A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raff answered
55 years experience in Infectious Disease
Not very long: Viruses require other cells to live in. If excreted from the body the virus will die as the cells containing it die. If you are referring to blood, ... Read More
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A 49-year-old member asked:
Dr. Alberto Sobrado answered
38 years experience in Internal Medicine
Only few minutes: It depends on the temperature and the conditions. Most of the time it needs body fluids or very direct contact ( air born).
4
4 thanks
A 39-year-old male asked:
Dr. Al Hegab answered
39 years experience in Allergy and Immunology
No: It won't, not a mode of transmission of either virus, relax
A 58-year-old male asked:
Dr. John cuong Doan answered
17 years experience in Family Medicine
I would think so: Hepatitis viruses, just like other viruses, require a living host to survive, but all they need is a few white blood cells or proteins to travel from ... Read More
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