how long does HIV live outside the body???

Question

how long does HIV live outside the body? The example I would have is if someone ( I do not know their HIV status , but would suspect they do NOT have it ) were to put a used syringe into a medical bottle, and a few days to maybe a week and a half later , would it still be alive in the bottle?

Answer 1

HIV can only live outside of the body for a few hours. It can only survive in a special laboratory envirionment for a short time also. No one has ever been diagnosed with environmentally contracted HIV. Visit this site and it has the questions and answers for you. You should NEVER use anything that has been in contact with another person's blood. You can suspect that they don't have HIV but you don't know for sure. Remember though, HIV is not the only blood-borne disease. Be careful and Good Luck.

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/insite?page=ask-01-10-20

Answer 2

Outside the body, HIV can survive for about 20 minutes. It has a very short life span when not in the human body. If it were in an airtight syringe, then it can survive from a very long time. That's how people were able to get HIV and AIDS from being drug users and sharing needles. Inside the medicine bottle, I doubt it would survive inside it for very long. The virus needs very specific conditions in order to survive. These conditionas are not suitable inside a medicine bottle. Basically, when HIV infected blood dries, if it has been spilled outside the body, then the risk of getting HIV from that blood drops down to 0%.

Answer 3

It is possible. When HIV is in blood in a airtight (i.e. syringe) environment it can live for some time. However, as you stated, they blood probably isn't HIV+, but if you are concerned, go get tested. There is nothing finer than piece of mind. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Not very long. 24hrs max. the only way to get is to come in direct contact of an infected person ie. blood, sperm, vaginal fluids.