Abesha Care HIV/AIDS Initiative

Scientists and medical authorities agree that HIV does not survive well
outside the body, making the possibility of environmental transmission
remote. HIV is found in varying concentrations or amounts in blood,
semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, saliva, and tears. To obtain data on
the survival of HIV, laboratory studies have required the use of
artificially high concentrations of laboratory-grown virus. Although
these unnatural concentrations of HIV can be kept alive for days or
even weeks under precisely controlled and limited laboratory
conditions, CDC studies have shown that drying of even these high
concentrations of HIV reduces the amount of infectious virus by 90 to
99 percent within several hours. Since the HIV concentrations used in
laboratory studies are much higher than those actually found in blood
or other specimens, drying of HIV-infected human blood or other body
fluids reduces the theoretical risk of environmental transmission to
that which has been observed - essentially zero. Incorrect
interpretations of conclusions drawn from laboratory studies have in
some instances caused unnecessary alarm.

Results from laboratory studies should not be used to assess specific
personal risk of infection because (1) the amount of virus studied is
not found in human specimens or elsewhere in nature, and (2) no one
has been identified as infected with HIV due to contact with an
environmental surface. Additionally, HIV is unable to reproduce
outside its living host (unlike many bacteria or fungi, which may do so
under suitable conditions), except under laboratory conditions;
therefore, it does not spread or maintain infectiousness outside its
host.

REFERENCE
CDC. HIV and AIDS: Are You at Risk?

Content Source:
Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

		How well does HIV survive outside the body?

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