How long does the AIDS virus live in the outside. Epidemiology of HIV infection

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Under certain conditions, the HIV virus can survive outside the body for several weeks.

Survival depends on what body fluid he is in, the volume of this fluid in the body, the concentration of the virus in it, temperature, acidity, and exposure to sunlight and humidity.

Questions regarding the survival of HIV outside the body are often of concern to people who have had contact with bodily fluids. Concerns about accidental transmission of HIV also drive many people crazy because of the possibility of accidental contact with spilled blood, dried blood or other bodily fluids, even in microscopic amounts.

It is important to keep in mind that although HIV can live for some time outside the body, no HIV infection has been reported as a result of contact with spilled blood, semen, or other body fluids, although many healthcare workers come into contact with HIV-infected body fluids ( we are talking about spilled, lying on the surface, and not in the needle, for example).

However, awareness of the possible persistence (retention of the virus in a functionally active state) of viable HIV in body fluids requires sanitary and epidemiological control over the safety of medical procedures.

How to determine the potential risk of HIV infection?

  • Firstly, there must be HIV in the blood, semen, vaginal fluid or breast milk . It's obvious, but sometimes we're afraid of where HIV isn't even there. HIV does not survive in the air or in an acidic environment, i.e. it dies in the stomach.
  • Secondly, just touching the blood with HIV is not enough, the skin protects. Those. a specific route of infection is needed: intercourse, someone else's syringe, needle, breastfeeding.
  • Thirdly, there should be a "gateway" for HIV: wounds, sores, damage to the skin, mucous membranes.

HIV does not penetrate intact skin.

  • Fourth, there must be a sufficient amount of the virus in the biological fluid, human secretions. Therefore, HIV is not transmitted through saliva, urine, tears, there is an insufficient concentration of the HIV virus necessary for infection.

Even if you just touched the syringe with the remnants of HIV-infected blood, you will not get infected!!!

Let not the hand of the giver fail

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HIV survives

HIV is dying

  • from the sun and UV radiation;
  • from soap, alcohol, iodine, a solution of brilliant green (brilliant green);
  • from temperatures above 60 degrees C, boiling;
  • gradually in an alkaline or acidic environment: at a pH below 7 or above 8 *.
  • in Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, because their pH is acidic, around 3.
  • gradually in sea water.

*This is why the risk of contracting HIV infection in a healthy woman is reduced by an appropriate degree of acidity in the vaginal fluid.

Detail, nuances

In syringes

  • HIV can survive in syringes for up to 7 days at 27⁰C to 37⁰C.
  • HIV can survive up to a month in syringes after they were recruited and released HIV-infected blood.

"Survival of HIV-1 in syringes". Abdala N, Stevens P.S., Griffith B.P., Hamer R. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520-8034, USA.

A study of blood collected from more than 800 syringes with blood residue and stored for various periods of time showed that HIV could be isolated from 10% of syringes after 11 days from less than 2 microliters of blood, but 53% of syringes contained 20 microliters of blood. Longer survival of HIV was associated with storage at lower temperatures (less than 4 degrees C), at higher temperatures (from 27 to 37 degrees) the AIDS virus died 100% after 7 days.

"Survival of HIV-1 in Syringes: Effects of Storage Temperature." Abdala N, Reyes R, Carney JM, Hamer R. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520-8034, USA:

“This study was conducted to determine the effect of storage temperature on the survival of HIV-1 inside syringes. At 40 gr. With 50% of all syringes contained viable HIV-1 at 42 days storage, which is the longest shelf life tested.

At room temperature (20 degrees C), the last day that syringes with 2 µl of infected blood were positive was day 21, and viable HIV-1 was recovered from 8% of the syringes.

The last day that the 20 µl syringes were positive was day 42 and viable HIV-1 was recovered from 8% of the syringes.

Above room temperature (27, 32, and 37 degrees C), the chance of viable HIV-1 syringes being delivered when storage times exceeded 1 week decreased to less than 1%.

The temperature at which injecting drug users can store their used syringes will vary depending on the climate, time of year and circumstances faced by the drug user. Survival of HIV-1 in contaminated syringes varied across temperature ranges, and this may be a factor influencing transmission of HIV-1 through a syringe.”

In blood

  • At room temperature in a drop of blood, HIV feels stable and can live a week in dried blood at 4 gr. WITH.

in semen

  • Survival studies of HIV in seminal fluid outside the body have not been conducted, but in laboratory studies, very low concentrations of the HIV virus were found in semen outside the body.

In corpses

  • HIV can survive in organs and corpses for up to 2 weeks.
  • The AIDS virus capable of infection was isolated from human corpses between 11 and 16 days after death, the corpses were stored at a temperature of 2 gr. C. It is not yet clear how long HIV can survive in decaying corpses at room temperature, but HIV was isolated from organs stored at 20°C up to 14 days of storage after death. HIV was not detected in sufficient quantities for infection after 16 days of storage, indicating that such corpses are less dangerous for gravediggers and pathologists.

PH

  • HIV can only survive at a pH of 7 to 8, optimal for it is 7.1. That is why it does not survive well in snot, urine, vomit, vomit.

In the cold

  • HIV does not die from the cold, the lower the temperature, the higher the likelihood of HIV survival.
  • HIV survives at very low temperatures, when deep frozen, it is perfectly preserved, for example P freezing the AIDS virus(HIV, the HIV virus is the same) at minus 70 gr. the virus was well preserved and did not lose its infectious properties.

In water

Water itself destroys HIV and quickly reduces the contagiousness of the virus. Moore's research shows that tap water is not good for HIV survival and that chlorinated water inactivates the virus completely.

"Survival of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), HIV-infected lymphocytes, and poliovirus in water." Mur B.E. Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology (AEM) 1993, May; 59(5): 1437-43. Division of Microbiology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-1019.

HIV loses its infectivity within hours of immersion in tap water.

The osmotic pressure of water disrupts the protein-lipid membrane needed by HIV to infect target cells. Chlorine and ammonia, which are present in tap water and wastewater, can act as virucides to kill HIV.
No study has provided a viable, routine scenario for HIV transmission through sewage or through biowaste left over from wastewater treatment.

Scientists have studied the survival of HIV in faeces, sewage and biological waste by inoculating samples of the HIV virus directly into these media.

It is important to note that the collected wastewater samples contained a much higher amount of the virus than in the city's wastewater collection and treatment system.
Casson et. et al. cultured HIV in samples of non-chlorinated secondary wastewater from conventional wastewater treatment plants. The seeded virus lost most of its infectivity within 48 hours. The results were similar in samples of primary effluent contaminated with HIV. In one experimental set, free and cell-bound HIV, seeded in dechlorinated tap water, lost 90 percent
infectivity within two hours and 99.9 percent infectivity within eight hours.

“Survival and Recovery of Selected HIV in Water and Wastewater” Casson, Leonard W., Michael O. D. Ritter, Lisa M. Cossentino, and Phalguni Gupta. "Survival and Recovery of Seeded HIV in Water and Wastewater." Water Environment Research 69, no. 2 (1997): 174-79.

In another experiment, during which blood with HIV got into tap water, HIV was found not capable of infection. In this way, water itself is an unfavorable environment for HIV infection.
HIV was not detected in real raw sewage samples collected from city wastewater treatment plant. Palmer et al. found no detectable levels of HIV, despite examination of streams into which sewage from at least one major medical research facility was discharged. Even a large amount of contaminated blood discharged into the sewer is diluted by the much larger flow of water in the sewer system.
Also, many medical institutions are disinfecting
material before disposal. In any case, the fragility and dependence of HIV on the host precludes the survival of the virus in the sewer system and wastewater treatment.

However, researcher Tames Water proved that HIV can survive in sewage for several days in LABORATORY conditions.

"Human Immunodeficiency Virus Survival in Water, Wastewater, and Seawater." Slade, J.S. & Pike, E.B. & Eglin, R.P. & Colbourne, J.S. & Kurtz, J.B.. (1989). Water Science & Technology. 21.55-59. 10.2166 / wst.1989.0078:

“Drinking water treatment serves as an effective barrier against waterborne transmission of enteric viruses. Current practice achieves a standard of less than 1 cultured enterovirus per 1000 liters of treated water. The likely susceptibility of HIV to water treatment processes was determined in the laboratory by comparing its environmental resistance with poliovirus 2, for which quantitative information already exists. HIV cultured in a human T cell line was added to samples of dechlorinated drinking water, settled raw sewage, and seawater. They were incubated at 16°C and sampled for 11 days. HIV was determined by serial dilution and subculturing, followed by analysis of fluorescent antibodies to infected cells and using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for p24 antigen. The survival of herpes simplex virus and poliovirus type 2 was analyzed in parallel. The mean time required for a ten-fold reduction in HIV concentration was calculated as 1.8 days in tap water, 2.9 days in wastewater, 1.6 days in seawater, and 1.3 days in tissue culture fluid controls. A 10-fold degradation of poliovirus 2 occurred after 23-30 days in wastewater, seawater, and tissue culture fluid, but there was no significant reduction in tap water over 30 days. Herpes simplex was the most susceptible virus, requiring only 1.4 days to be removed from wastewater. Controls in tissue culture fluid showed no significant change over 7 days. These tests show that while HIV was more resistant than herpes simplex virus, when it was associated with organic matter found in wastewater, it was more susceptible than poliovirus, an enterovirus widely used as a measure of the effectiveness of water treatment processes. This sensitivity makes it extremely unlikely that HIV poses any threat to the sanitized water supply. "

22 Mar 2013 Heading:

It is known that the immunodeficiency virus dies in the open air after a few minutes. It is also believed that HIV can exist in a syringe for much longer. In general, various, often conflicting, data are given about how long a virus can live. What sources to trust?

As for the viability of HIV outside the human body, there is more than one misconception. Also, scientific evidence is often misinterpreted. In laboratory experiments, such saturated concentrations of the virus are usually used, which are hundreds of thousands of times higher than those found in nature. And even despite such a high concentration, HIV is able to exist from 1 to 3 days after the liquid dries.

Does this mean that in natural concentration HIV is able to survive outside the human body for more than two or three days? Of course no.

The concentration of the virus that is used in the experiments prevails over the natural one by hundreds of thousands of times. And this means that under normal conditions, HIV is unable to exist for more than two or three minutes outside the human body. Therefore, HIV cannot be contracted at home.

At the same time, science knows that the life span of HIV inside a syringe depends on many factors. For example, how much blood and virus is in the needle, what is the ambient temperature. As a rule, the amount of blood that is directly in the needle depends on the size of the needle. And also on whether blood was drawn into the needle.

One experiment examined syringes containing blood contaminated with a high titer of HIV-1. As a result, it was found that the virus retained its viability even after 48 days, provided that it was stored at a stable temperature. It was also found that the virus was losing its viability. And, after 10 days, live virus was found in 26% of the syringes. The preservation of the virus was facilitated by low temperatures and a large amount of blood in the syringe.

Also, as a result of the experiment, it was found that at high temperatures, low titers and in a small amount of blood, the virus loses its viability.

In order to prevent HIV injection transmission, it must be remembered that a syringe that has been used or a needle that has not been sterilized can carry a live virus. This danger can exist for several days.

Scientists have spent a lot of time and money developing an effective cure for HIV infection, but not a single attempt has been successful. Each person should know how dangerous the disease is, when it is easy to get infected and how long HIV survives in the air. Having such information will allow you to protect yourself and loved ones from possible danger as much as possible.

How long does the HIV virus die in the open air: how to understand that the disease has developed?

Immediately after infection, the symptoms do not appear, because the person does not even realize that he was infected. Sometimes the development of the disease can be suspected by rashes on the skin of the abdomen and some signs similar to the manifestations of the flu.

The AIDS virus lives in the air for a certain period, but how long is it dangerous to humans? When existing outside the body, the causative agent of the disease is not particularly resistant.

Scientists offer different versions regarding the activity of the retrovirus at home. Some say that the AIDS virus dies in the air for five minutes, others talk about its ability to remain viable in the external environment for several hours. In any case, the answer to the question of how long HIV lives in the air is always the same - not for long. Otherwise, domestic infection would be recorded, but such situations do not exist.

The causative agent of the disease is not a fungal spore, does not belong to rod infections, therefore, in the soil, the pathogen quickly loses its viability.

AIDS virus in the air: its resistance to environmental conditions

The causative agent of AIDS dies in the air almost immediately, but how likely is it to get infected in everyday life? If the virus is in the external environment in the composition of semen or blood, it remains active for a long time. You can get infected even after two days. Sometimes the virus dies much earlier, depending on its concentration and the temperature in which it is located. In cases where, after poor-quality processing, traces of infected blood remain on the instruments (surgical, manicure, dental), HIV can remain active and enter the body of healthy people when performing medical manipulations.

How long does the HIV (AIDS) virus live in the air, does it die when exposed to certain temperatures?

The virus does not withstand high temperatures, it is destroyed as a result of half an hour treatment at 56 degrees and above. However, with this exposure, the most resistant cells survive, so the temperature should be higher. To completely inactivate the pathogen, the conditions for sterilization and processing of instruments should be observed.

How long does the AIDS virus live in the air as part of the blood? The virus contained in this biological substance is more stable in the external environment. To destroy its protein shell, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of more than 60 degrees, then the complete destruction of the microorganism will occur. At the specified temperature, the tools are processed for an hour. As a result, the virus dies completely and is no longer able to harm the body of a healthy person.

Knowing how long HIV lives in the open air and whether infection is possible at home, it becomes clear how to act in order to avoid the development of infection with serious consequences for the body. Although it is difficult to say exactly how long AIDS lives in the air, and scientists say it is unstable to external factors, preventive measures should not be neglected. Only the absence of contact with the carrier and contaminated objects can guarantee safety for human health.

In the open air, the virus dies after a few minutes. Inside the syringe, he can live much longer. There are different, often conflicting, data on the viability of HIV. Where is the truth?

There are many misconceptions and misinterpretations of scientific data regarding the life of HIV outside the human body. Laboratory studies use virus concentrations that are at least 100,000 times higher than those found in nature. When using such artificially high concentrations, HIV can remain alive for 1-3 days after the liquid has dried.

Does this mean that HIV in its natural concentration can live outside the human body for up to three days? Of course not. The laboratory concentration exceeds the natural concentration by at least 100,000 times. If we extrapolate research data to the natural concentration of the virus, we will see that HIV can live outside the body for only a few minutes. If HIV lived outside the body for many hours or days (in its natural concentrations), we would undoubtedly observe cases of domestic infection - and they do not happen.

Of particular interest is the lifetime of HIV inside a syringe or hollow needle. It turned out that it is influenced by a number of factors, including the amount of blood in the needle, the titer (amount) of the virus in the blood, and the ambient temperature. The amount of blood in the needle depends in part on the size of the needle and whether the blood is drawn into the needle.

In one study of syringes containing blood infected with a very high titer of HIV-1, viable virus was found in some needles after 48 days of storage at constant temperature. At the same time, the viability of the virus decreases with time: after 2-10 days of storage, live virus was isolated in only 26% of syringes. The large volume of blood in the syringe and low storage temperatures also contributed to the survival of the live virus. The viability of the virus is lower at low titers, at high or fluctuating temperatures, and at low blood volumes.

For purposes of preventing injection transmission of HIV, it should be assumed that a used syringe or hollow needle (without sterilization) may contain live virus for several days.

There is currently no way to completely kill the HIV virus in the human body. The disease leads to irreversible damage to many organs, which is accompanied by a decrease in the quality of life and its significant reduction.

Due to the fact that HIV can only be killed outside the human body, research has established under what conditions it dies. This knowledge is used in methods for preventing the spread of infection and decontaminating medical and other instruments that may come into contact with the patient's blood.

At what temperature does HIV die?

To find out at what temperature AIDS dies, it is necessary to isolate the pathogen and evaluate its viability in various environments. To conduct such experiments, chicken embryos are most often used, into which infected material is introduced. After the presence of the virus in the embryo is confirmed, its study begins.

Based on the experiments carried out, it can be concluded that the retrovirus dies at a temperature of 50-70 ° C, subject to exposure for 30-40 minutes. To determine under what conditions and at what temperature HIV dies instantly, many experiments were carried out using infected blood of patients. Based on research data, it can be stated that at 100°C or more, the virus loses activity instantly. Therefore, to disinfect the patient's belongings, it is enough to boil them for several minutes.

Not all objects can be disinfected in this way, so it was found out how quickly HIV would die at a lower temperature. It has been established that temperatures of 10-15°C lead to a slowdown in the vital activity of the pathogen and its slow death, while levels of 50-60°C contribute to the almost instantaneous death of the immunodeficiency virus. It can be concluded that in this temperature range, HIV dies quite quickly.

At what temperature does the AIDS virus die outside the human body?

Outside the human body, the pathogen is viable for less than a minute. Therefore, it is believed that it is almost impossible to get infected with HIV in a bloodless way. Since the theory of the structure of a pathogenic cell is calculated only mathematically, it is impossible to find out what changes occur in a microorganism when it interacts with the environment. The only reliable result can be obtained when conducting an experiment with chicken embryos in vitro. It shows how long HIV dies outside the body, and whether it is possible to cultivate it in this way. Based on this study, it can be stated that at temperatures below 35.0°C outside the human body, the retrovirus dies almost instantly. And the cultivation of a microorganism in chicken embryos is real, but not for long.

Does the temperature of the disinfectant solution affect the virus? It dies under temperature conditions of 50 ° C, so if you treat surfaces with liquids of this temperature regime and above, you can kill the AIDS virus with a probability of more than 90%. However, knowledge of the temperature at which the HIV virus dies is often not used, the pathogen is sensitive to any even cold disinfectants.

At what temperature does HIV die when exposed to UV rays? During the irradiation of chicken embryos with ultraviolet rays, scientists wanted to know how long HIV dies under such influences. It quickly became clear that ultraviolet rays do not have a detrimental effect on the virus. In connection with this fact, it makes no sense to talk about the harmful effects of sunlight on the pathogen.

Under what other conditions does HIV die? The HIV virus dies on contact with oxygen molecules within a few minutes. This is evidenced by the impossibility of transmitting the infection by airborne droplets and through household items. Moreover, the higher the humidity in the environment, the greater the likelihood of its preservation as a biological species.

In what environment does the AIDS virus die? The AIDS virus dies when the environment in which it is located is highly oxidized. At the same time, humidity will not affect its activity.

At what temperature does the HIV virus die in an alkaline environment?

Alkaline environment contributes to the preservation of the pathogen. Therefore, the human body is an excellent reservoir for its habitat. Under such conditions, a retrovirus can multiply and produce billions of virions per day with the help of body cells, while the latter are more sensitive to environmental changes than the pathogen itself.

The actual evidence that the microorganism is perfectly preserved at a temperature of +37-37.5 ° C in alkaline conditions is the increased risk of infection with immunodeficiency in women who often suffer from sexually transmitted diseases. These pathologies are accompanied by a change in the vaginal environment to an alkaline one, which enhances the reproduction of microorganisms that cause gynecological diseases. The temperature of the internal organs of a person is 37-37.5 ° C, and in the tissues the virus multiplies rapidly, affecting more and more structures.

At what temperature does the HIV (AIDS) virus die in the human body? In the body, AIDS dies only under the influence of antiviral drugs, so their intake is mandatory. Exposure to temperature can lead to fatal consequences for humans. With the onset of unfavorable conditions for the life and reproduction of HIV, it quickly penetrates into the cell and can remain there for several years. With the resumption of appropriate conditions, it resumes its immunotropic and neurotropic actions.

At what temperature does the AIDS virus die on metal instruments?

Such devices are best cleaned and disinfected. They can be treated at low and high temperatures with various formulations and disinfectants.

In medical institutions, the method of processing instruments is different, but each of them is configured specifically to destroy viruses and bacteria that may be on the surface of objects. For example, in nail salons they use the treatment of tools with disinfectants of universal action and the calcination method immediately before use. It must be remembered that after such actions the instrument is considered sterile for 5-6 hours. In this regard, when visiting beauty salons, it is necessary to ensure that the objects that the client comes into contact with are processed immediately before use. If you need to quickly disinfect the devices, calcination is best. In this case, the temperature should reach 100-120 ° C. HIV dies at a temperature that reaches such numbers, almost instantly.

Using this knowledge, it is possible not only to avoid accidental infection with immunodeficiency, but also to prevent the introduction of other pathogens into the body. HIV is considered one of the vulnerable infections, so it is not difficult to kill it in the external environment.

With possible contact with the pathogen, one should not hope for a good immune response of one's body and that the virus may have died at one of the stages of infection. You should immediately seek emergency medical attention within 24-48 hours. As statistics show, emergency prevention prevents the development of AIDS by 99.9%, while retroviral treatment only weakens the action of the pathogen in the body and slows down its reproduction. Many medicines have been created in the world that can slow the spread of infection, but do not kill the HIV virus.

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