How Long Do Germs Live On A Door Handle

On a hard non porous surface like a door handle most viruses are destroyed within 24 hours.

How long do germs live on a door handle.

Cold viruses don t survive as long usually a few hours. Difficile has been found to survive for up to five months. Flu viruses can survive on hard surfaces like bus poles and infect another person for 24 to 48 hours she says. 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.

But there is evidence. Enveloped viruses including herpes influenza and coronavirus generally remain infectious for hours or days rather than months. 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. 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.

The survival time for bacteria is more variable. Salmonella only lasts four hours but mrsa can last several weeks and c. The coronavirus can live 2 to 3 days on those surfaces. On clothing or skin the survival time is roughly halved.

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. Another study concluded the virus can survive even longer up to 9 days on some surfaces.