What effect does the viral load have on the risk of infection? | Hepatitis C Virus

What effect does the viral load have on the risk of infection?

In contrast to liver cell damage, HCV viral load correlates with infectivity or risk of infection. This means that the higher the viral load in the blood, the higher the probability of the virus being transmitted to the environment. Conversely, the risk of infection would also decrease if the viral load were reduced. Even a combined infection with HIV is usually accompanied by an increased viral load of the hepatitis C virus and can thus increase the risk of infection.

How long is the survival time of a hepatitis C virus?

Outside the body, hepatitis C viruses remain infectious for a relatively long time. However, the survivability of the virus also depends on the surface or medium on which or in which the hepatitis C pathogen is located. In addition, the ambient temperature is crucial for the survival time.

It has been proven that the hepatitis C virus has a very long survival time and infectivity – in some cases up to 60 days – if there is sufficient blood volume (e.g. in syringes) and cooler temperatures such as 4°C. However, infectivity is greatly reduced after just one day, making infection increasingly unlikely.