How long does a virus survive outside the body…
You know how when you get statistics from STI resources that give a time frame a virus can live outside the body, how do they determine the upper end? The maximum amount of time? How does the laboratory study compare to real life?
First off, the laboratory determined lifespan is going to be the real and genuine ultimate maximum. Why? because in these studies they are trying to find the ultimate maximum survival. They are doing their damnedest to keep the virus alive, and they are specialists in these viruses. They use super concentrated virus, much higher than found in ‘natural’ conditions and they use methods to provide the virus with the ultimate beneficial environment to keep it alive for as long as they possibly can. That is how they achieve that maximum environmental life span. Scientists specializing in the virus, using a super version of the virus, and using all their knowledge and equipment to try to keep the virus alive as long as they possibly can outside the body. They want to provide us with the best and most accurate data possible. There is no way, doing the best you can outside the laboratory to come anywhere close to creating an ideal environment to support that virus, and you’re not dealing with a specialized concentrated viral sample.
Here’s one quote from a study on HIV “In order 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 under precisely controlled and limited laboratory conditions”.
This quote is typical of these studies to achieve the data to give us statistics on STI’s.
I’ve written an article before that gives the maximum lifespans of various viruses outside the human body. When the studies say that’s the upper limit, then that’s the upper limit. They’ve gone through rigorous varied testing to create super strains of the virus and then do everything in their power to keep it alive outside the body. No environment you create is going to be better able to support the life of that virus outside the body. The data is there, and it’s accurate.
My bafflement is why people who engage in behaviors that serve a potential risk to come in contact with blood and body fluid STI’s don’t know this information?! It’s readily available. It’s available online, it’s available through medical practitioners. Or they are aware of the information but somehow have decided they know better than the scientists and health practitioners that specialize in the subject area.
I mean, it’s not just about STI’s either, cold viruses, flu viruses… if you want to know how to protect yourself from getting a bug, Millions of dollars have gone into researching just that, the health information is there for the taking. Empower yourself.