How long does a cold virus stay alive on something inanimate?
One of the primary ways of spreading the common cold is by touch, how long on average does the virus stay alive for on most objects?
Posted by prowlinglynx
i ran across this and felt compelled to answer. it depends on the type of virus, the strain....they're all a little different and will act accordingly.
if it's the "common cold," that is caused by rhinovirus. that is worth googling..
i've had several medical classes in college, and i remember everything.
viruses and bacterium do not need a living host to survive, like parasites do. they can turn to spores in unfavorable conditions, which make them pretty much invincible to any type of unfavorable condition, be it heat, disinfectents....etc.
...and they can turn into spores in a blink of an eye. it's the reason these orgnanisms, if you can call a virus that (they aren't classified as organisms because the don't meet all of the criterium of an organism..such as respiration), are so hearty and difficult to kill. they, the tiny things we cannot see, rule us!
Posted by iluvbirds25
Most viruses do not live more than a few hours outside of the body without a compatible media to live on - like a petri dish or another person.
There are a few viruses that can survive as long as 6 month on an inanimate object, such as Hepatitis B.
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