How Long Can the Hepatitis C Virus Live Outside the Body?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the hepatitis C virus can live on room-temperature surfaces outside the body from 16 hours to four days.

The Facts

• Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease---a mild illness that lasts a few weeks or a chronic illness that leads to serious liver problems, including cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) or liver cancer.

Transmission

• The hepatitis C virus is spread through contact with infected blood. You cannot get the illness from food or casual contact, the CDC says.

Risk

• According to the CDC, people at increased risk for hepatitis C include injection drug users and recipients of donated blood, blood products and organs before blood screening began in 1992. It can be passed from mothers to unborn babies, and from non-sterile instruments used in tattoos or piercings. Patients on dialysis for many years, health-care workers and HIV-infected persons are also at risk.

Prevention

• To prevent the spread of hepatitis C---in addition to avoiding contact with visible blood---the McKinley Health Center recommends against sharing needles, razors, toothbrushes or pierced earrings, or engaging in unprotected sex.

Considerations

• Clean up blood spills by wearing gloves and using household bleach diluted 1:10 with water, the CDC says.