Does Disinfection Work Against Viral Hepatitis?
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) cause serious illness among millions of people. They also are closely connected with HIV, injection drug use, and high-risk sexual behaviors. Many people think that disinfection doesn’t work against HBV or HCV, but laboratory studies on HBV show that disinfection works against this bloodborne virus in the same ways that it does against HIV. An important thing to remember about HBV and HCV is that the numbers of viruses in blood are much higher for HBV and HCV than they are for HIV. As a result, getting rid of as much blood as possible by flushing out and rinsing is especially important in reducing the risk of becoming infected with viral hepatitis.
