How long can HIV live on the hand or on a body part?

Answer 1

There is some controversy on the exact answer to your question; however per the CDC: "CDC studies have shown that drying of even these high concentrations of HIV reduces the amount of infectious virus by 90 to 99 percent within several hours. Since the HIV concentrations used in laboratory studies are much higher than those actually found in blood or other specimens, drying of HIV-infected human blood or other body fluids reduces the theoretical risk of environmental transmission to that which has been observed--essentially zero. ".

In essence then, once the blood is dry, the transmission essentially "goes to zero". The length of time then that HIV can live on the hand or on a body part will vary based on temperature and humidity; but an estimate would be several hours minimum.

Answer 2

HIV does not survive long outside the body, and it cannot be transmitted through casual contact like holding hands. The virus is fragile and is easily inactivated outside of the body, so the risk of transmission from hand contact is very low.