Which virus can survive outside the body for about seven days?

• A. HIV
• B. HBV
• C. HPV
• D. HCV

Answer: (B)

Viruses differ in how long they stay infectious outside the body, and this matters for preventing transmission in a body art setting. Hepatitis B virus is notably hardy and can remain infectious on surfaces or in dried blood for about seven days. That endurance is what makes rigorous cleaning and disinfection between clients essential, since any contaminated surface or instrument could still pose a risk for a week. By comparison, HIV is much less stable once outside the body and doesn’t typically persist for days on surfaces, so it isn’t associated with this seven-day persistence. So the virus best matched to surviving around seven days outside the body is hepatitis B virus.