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How long can hepatitis virus survive outside the body?

Started by feralharbor2 · · 👁 4 views · 8 replies

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Participants feralharbor2Anthony Harris14ambermason16mistyhound2Kenneth Hernandez67
feralharbor2 feralharbor2 MemberOP
18 messages
joined Jan 2005
#1 ·
We all know how unhygienic some of our local shopkeepers can be. I’ve seen them licking their fingers before grabbing plastic bags and stuff, so it makes me wonder... how long could a hepatitis virus from their saliva actually survive on a bag or the food they've touched?
Anthony Harris14 Anthony Harris14 Active Member
63 messages
joined Aug 2004
#2 ·
If you want my two cents, just try not to dwell on it too much. I get hit by 😲 from time to time myself, but I’ve realized there isn't much I can actually do about it. At the end of the day, the infectious dose is probably too low to matter, which is the one silver lining here.
ambermason16 ambermason16 Active Member
213 messages
joined Apr 2009
#3 ·
Look, if you want my two cents, just get vaccinated against Strain B. You won't be doing much to stop C that way, but you can definitely shut down B before it even gets a chance to start.
mistyhound2 mistyhound2 Active Member
89 messages
joined Feb 2004
#4 ·
shree_kali said:Look, if you want my two cents, just go get vaccinated against Hep B... You won't catch Hep C that way, obviously, but B is a real threat, and you can actually prevent that one.

Wait, what????
Hepatitis B and C spread through blood or sexual contact. Hepatitis A is totally different—that’s an oral thing.

We all know how unhygienic some of our local grocery clerks can be. I mean, they’re practically licking their fingers before grabbing plastic bags and stuff, so it makes me wonder: how long does a hepatitis virus from their saliva actually hang around on a bag or the food they touched?

Listen, B and C are a whole different ballgame when it comes to transmission. Hep A is an enterovirus—meaning it's fecal-oral—and it basically dies the second it leaves the body. It might hang out in water for a bit, but even a little heat, maybe like 122°F, would probably kill it. As for saliva? There's a negligible amount of A, B, or C virus in there anyway. Honestly, why are you even stressing over these idiots? But hey, good on you for asking.
ambermason16 ambermason16 Active Member
213 messages
joined Apr 2009
#5 ·
mistyhound2 said:Are you kidding me?
Hepatitis B and C spread through blood or sexual contact. Hepatitis A is an entirely different beast—that’s transmitted orally.

Hold on a second. My friend’s mom was out partying like a teenager and ended up using some sketchy needle. If that's how it works, how did she even catch it? 😕
mistyhound2 mistyhound2 Active Member
89 messages
joined Feb 2004
#6 ·
shree_kali said:hold up, my friend's mom was acting like some total teenager, getting high on some sketchy weed and smoking B... how the hell did she end up with that then? 😕

You're mixing up A and B. Doing it that way, she could have just ended up with A, and only A.

And if there's B involved too, well, she got that through some other way entirely.
Anthony Harris14 Anthony Harris14 Active Member
63 messages
joined Aug 2004
#7 ·
mistyhound2 said:Wait, what?
Hepatitis B and C are transmitted through blood or sexual contact. Hepatitis A, however, is an oral-route infection.

Look, B and C—those are the ones you really have to watch out for regarding transmission methods. Hepatitis A is an enterovirus, meaning it follows the fecal-oral route; it simply cannot survive long outside a host. It dies off almost immediately. It might linger in water for a bit, but I’m fairly certain even temperatures around 122°F will kill it. As for saliva, the amount of A, B, or C virus present is negligible. Honestly, why are you stressing over such trivialities? Still, I suppose it's better to ask than to wonder.

The Hepatitis A virus is actually incredibly resilient. It loves water, and if I recall correctly, it can withstand 140°F for up to an hour. You'd need to boil it at 212°F for about five minutes to be sure it's gone.
Hepatitis B can be found in saliva, and I read somewhere that it could potentially be spread via kissing—though probably not just a standard kiss, more like a "tongue-probing-the-tonsils" kind of situation.😁
Ugh, I feel slightly nauseous now.🙂
mistyhound2 mistyhound2 Active Member
89 messages
joined Feb 2004
#8 ·
Michelle Patel78 said:The hepatitis A virus is one of those incredibly tough little bastards.

Sunlight, UV rays, just drying it out—that kills it pretty fast. It can't really hang around outside a host for long (like if you left it on a bag or something).

It loves water, though. I think at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, it might last an hour. At a full boil, you probably need about five minutes to kill it off.

If it's hanging out in water, it can survive longer, but honestly, I don't know the exact math on that. Probably what you said, though. That’s why we still get those hep outbreaks. A. Quote

Hepatitis B can be found in saliva, and I read somewhere it could even spread through kissing—not like a normal kiss, but more like... I don't know, "performing a tonsil exam with your tongue."😁
Ugh, I feel slightly nauseous.🙂

Yeah, but it doesn't spread via saliva unless both people have bleeding gums or something, but then we're talking blood-to-blood contact, which isn't really just "saliva" anymore.
Kenneth Hernandez67 Kenneth Hernandez67 Regular
351 messages
joined May 2005
#9 ·
Hepatitis A is commonly referred to as the "dirty hands disease"—and frankly, the name says it all.

As for Hepatitis B, the transmission process is exactly the same as HIV.

Which means there is zero risk from casual social contact. To get infected, the virus actually has to enter your bloodstream.

I can't say for certain regarding Hepatitis C, though; I haven't dealt with that one personally.

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