How Long Do Germs Live On A Door Handle

How long does coronavirus live on surfaces.

How long do germs live on a door handle. But there is evidence. On clothing or skin the survival time is roughly halved. On a hard non porous surface like a door handle most viruses are destroyed within 24 hours. Door handles provide a popular medium for the disease to spread as every person uses the handle they can extend the duration that the microorganisms survive.

Flu viruses can survive on hard surfaces like bus poles and infect another person for 24 to 48 hours she says. Cold viruses don t survive as long usually a few hours. In theory that means you could contact a door knob an infected person touched 3 days ago and still transfer the virus to your own body. Another study concluded the virus can survive even longer up to 9 days on some surfaces.

The journal of hospital infection s review of 22 studies about how long human coronaviruses can live on inanimate objects found they survive four days on wood and glass two to nine days on. Non enveloped viruses such as adenovirus and rhinovirus which cause cold like symptoms and hepatitis a can live for up to three months on contaminated surfaces. Difficile has been found to survive for up to five months. Enveloped viruses including herpes influenza and coronavirus generally remain infectious for hours or days rather than months.

It is believed that door handles provide a suitable environment for the disease to spread on as the virus can survive on these metallic surfaces from 2 up to 8 hours. The coronavirus can live 2 to 3 days on those surfaces.