Sharing Personal Items
While most people know that sharing needles can cause hepatitis C, few realize that sharing personal items such as toothbrushes and razors can also spread the virus. In fact, sharing any item that may have come into contact with blood, such as a bandage or piece of jewelry, can put an individual at risk for contracting hepatitis C.
The risk of spreading hepatitis C through sharing personal items is low, but it is possible. For individuals who are planning to share personal items with someone, it is crucial to make sure to sterilize them first. This can be done by boiling them in water for at least three minutes. For people unsure about how to properly sterilize something, it is best to throw them away and get news ones instead.
Sharing personal items puts an individual at high risk for contracting hepatitis C because the virus can live in dried blood for up to three days. That means that if an individual shares a razor with someone who has hepatitis C, there is a chance that they could become infected with the virus.