How long do bloodborne viruses survive on surfaces?

Hepatitis B can survive in dried blood on surfaces for up to seven days and still be capable of causing infection. It is a hardy virus, which is why blood that looks old or dried should still be treated as a hazard until the area has been properly disinfected.

Hepatitis C can remain infectious outside the body for several days in the right conditions, while HIV is far more fragile and generally becomes unable to infect within hours of a spill drying. All three are bloodborne, so any blood contamination is treated as a potential infection risk regardless of the exact virus.

Dried blood still needs proper cleaning because viruses can persist within it and because wiping can spread contamination rather than remove it. Effective cleanup means containing the area, removing the contamination, and disinfecting with the correct agent, which is also central to infection control decontamination.

The safe way to deal with a blood spill is to keep people away, wear appropriate protection, and have it cleaned and disinfected to a clinical standard, with the waste removed under the clinical waste duty of care. For anything beyond a very small, contained spill, a licensed contractor is the safer option.