One burning question on everyones mind is, "How long can viruses survive outside the body?" It's important to note that the term "survive" might not be entirely accurate as viruses are not classified as living organisms since
they cannot replicate independently. Instead they rely on entering a host cell and hijacking its machinery to multiply.
During this process, the cell's life cycle is disrupted, leading to cellular damage that at the long run, causes disease. Now, the true question here is, "How long does a virus remain infectious?"
Typically, when it comes down to choosing a human body, and a hard surface at room temperature, we bet that infectious viruses would go for the former. Let’s take a look at the smallpox virus. This virus is able to survive just on a tabletop for months to years, which, as most of us know, later led to a devastating epidemic followed by the development of the smallpox vaccine.
However, some viruses could, unlike smallpox, survive outside the body for a short time. Don’t smile yet, because it could just be the right period to infect other individuals. The Hepatitis B and C viruses can survive outside the body for from 16 hours, to a week.
It's interesting to note that cold viruses can last up to a week while flu viruses typically perish within 24 hours once outside the body. HIV is another virus with a lifespan once it leaves the body.
Some viruses like the stomach flu or Norovirus are less severe but quite common. Norovirus, known as gastroenteritis often causes diarrhea and vomiting in children. The survival time of this virus outside the body varies depending on factors like the surface it lands on and its surroundings.
Image credit; Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
