Can you catch diseases from toilet seats?

[CatCage]

Can you catch diseases from toilet seats?

 

As you sink down onto a toilet seat used by hundreds of other people the same day, you might be wondering: how long do pathogens survive in bathrooms?

 

Once you set foot in a public toilet, it can be impossible to resist the overwhelming feeling of "ick". The sight of urine splattered on the toilet seat and the floor, the pungent scent of somebody else's bodily fluids – it can really slam against your senses. You might open the stall door with your elbow, flush with your foot, or drape the entire seat in toilet paper and execute a squat if you find the whole thing too gross to contemplate. 

 

But can you actually catch diseases from merely sitting on the seat? Or are the elaborate techniques some people use to avoid contact completely unnecessary? Here's what microbiologists have to say.

 

What you (probably) won't catch

"Theoretically, yes [you can catch diseases from the toilet seat], but the risk is vanishingly low," says Jill Roberts, a professor of public health and microbiology at the University of South Florida.

 

More:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250814-can-you-catch-diseases-from-toilet-seats

[Mark1969]

💩

[bkk6060]

Did you get Clapmidias and think it may be from the toilet?

 

I always squat above the toilet never touch anything.

[Hummin]

Im even not comfortable to let hotel cleaners tidy up our room where they go from room to room, cleaning toilets and coffe cups randomly without changing plastic gloves and also use the same rags on every surfacee around the rooms. Even moving around our personal stuff such as toothbrush etc

 

 

[Photoguy21]

4 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Im even not comfortable to let hotel cleaners tidy up our room where they go from room to room, cleaning toilets and coffe cups randomly without changing plastic gloves and also use the same rags on every surfacee around the rooms. Even moving around our personal stuff such as toothbrush etc

 

 

You need to stay in better hotels

[Nick Carter icp]

9 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Did you get Clapmidias and think it may be from the toilet?

 

I always squat above the toilet never touch anything.

 

   I sometimes put one foot on the cistern water tank 

[Ralf001]

14 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Did you get Clapmidias and think it may be from the toilet?

 

I always squat above the toilet never touch anything.

I squat on the toilet... to upper deck the cistern.

[Nick Carter icp]

We had one of these towels when I was at primary school , thus I have a great immune system now 

[carlyai]

I used to get it often in my younger single days in Banggers. I thought it was from Nanna, but probably toilet seat.

[Hummin]

9 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

You need to stay in better hotels

Oh, do not worry, we do, still you know that's how it is, 

 

Beeen to dentist, use their phone between going in and out your mouth? 

 

In general  goid hygiene is a difficult matter for thais and many expats as well 

[Lacessit]

It's a bit of a myth. The skin is a barrier, and many pathogens die on exposure to air.

 

One is far more likely to acquire an infection from doorknobs. Ask yourself how often they are cleaned compared to toilets.

[carlyai]

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

It's a bit of a myth. The skin is a barrier, and many pathogens die on exposure to air.

 

One is far more likely to acquire an infection from doorknobs. Ask yourself how often they are cleaned compared to toilets.

More nob cleaning required.

[Hummin]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

It's a bit of a myth. The skin is a barrier, and many pathogens die on exposure to air.

 

One is far more likely to acquire an infection from doorknobs. Ask yourself how often they are cleaned compared to toilets.

 

 

Open wounds is the critical when getting infections and if you touch some infected surfaces for next scratch a wound or your eyes

[novacova]

34 minutes ago, CatCage said:

Can you catch diseases from toilet seats?

Rub your nose on them, then most certainly you eventually will.

[MalcolmB]

I tried blaming giving my girlfriend an STD with that excuse.

But the blabbermouth doctor told her it was not possible.

[Lacessit]

Just now, Hummin said:

 

 

Open wounds is the critical when getting infections and if you touch some infected surfaces for next scratch a wound or your eyes

True. How many people have open wounds on their bum?

[Hummin]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

True. How many people have open wounds on their bum?

If you touch infected surface and scratch your wound not necessarily on your bum

[Nick Carter icp]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

True. How many people have open wounds on their bum?

 

   After spending the night with Bob Smith, quite a lot I would imagine 

[Hummin]

7 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

I tried blaming giving my girlfriend an STD with that excuse.

But the blabbermouth doctor told her it was not possible.

A true alpha male 

[Lacessit]

6 minutes ago, Hummin said:

If you touch infected surface and scratch your wound not necessarily on your bum

I agree. I am making the point the infection is unlikely to result from sitting on a toilet seat.

 

OTOH, the average human touches their face 23 times an hour, or 368 times a day.

 

Which is why it is important to wash the hands after using a toilet.

[GammaGlobulin]

I cannot catch diseases from public toilets.

[Hervey Bay]

I have been in a number of public toilets in Bangkok which had no soap, and I was always worried about germs remaining on my hands which would inevitably spread to other areas and give me hepatitis A. Or just diarrhea.

And I am sure many males here have experienced their penis brushing the porcelain in front, underneath the seat. There is no real reason another person's fluids  could not give one some kind of disease, though I am not sure about specifically which one.

 

[HappyExpat57]

The world according to Grok:

 

"It's highly unlikely to catch diseases from toilet seats. Most pathogens, like bacteria or viruses, don't survive long on dry, hard surfaces like porcelain. The risk is minimal unless there's direct contact with fresh bodily fluids from an infected person, which is rare in typical bathroom scenarios. Proper hygiene, like washing hands, further reduces any negligible risk. Studies, like one from the Journal of Medical Microbiology (2011), confirm that surfaces like toilet seats are not significant vectors for disease transmission compared to direct person-to-person contact or contaminated food/water. Always practice good hygiene, but toilet seats aren't a major concern."

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I cannot catch diseases from public toilets.

A field and a shovel is all that is needed in outback Australia.

[GammaGlobulin]

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

A field and a shovel is all that is needed in outback Australia.

 

Watch out for those Inland Taipans...

While squatting.

 

[Lacessit]

9 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Watch out for those Inland Taipans...

While squatting.

 

Too far north.

 

I remember a pair of Lebanese hunters from Sydney. They were so petrified by snakes they never left their vehicle for the whole week of their stay at the station, except in camp.

 

They never realized there was a 5 metre long carpet snake living in the rafters of the shearers' showers.

[GammaGlobulin]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Too far north.

 

I remember a pair of Lebanese hunters from Sydney. They were so petrified by snakes they never left their vehicle for the whole week of their stay at the station, except in camp.

 

They never realized there was a 5 metre long carpet snake living in the rafters of the shearers' showers.

 

Your tall tale sounds to me like....

Lebanon Baloney....

 

[Lacessit]

26 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Your tall tale sounds to me like....

Lebanon Baloney....

 

Suit yourself. Have you ever been in outback Australia, hmm?

 

The King Ranch in Texas is America's largest cattle ranch. 825,000 acres.

 

Anna Creek Station in South Australia is the world's largest cattle property. 5.85 million acres, more than 7 times larger.

 

I used to hunt on comparative tiddlers in western NSW, a mere 45,000 acres.

 

If you don't like the facts I post, I have others. You probably won't like them either.

 

 

[Cameroni]

 

Only in Sweden. It's like in the middle ages toiletwise there, at least in the country.

[newbee2022]

7 hours ago, CatCage said:

Can you catch diseases from toilet seats?

 

As you sink down onto a toilet seat used by hundreds of other people the same day, you might be wondering: how long do pathogens survive in bathrooms?

 

Once you set foot in a public toilet, it can be impossible to resist the overwhelming feeling of "ick". The sight of urine splattered on the toilet seat and the floor, the pungent scent of somebody else's bodily fluids – it can really slam against your senses. You might open the stall door with your elbow, flush with your foot, or drape the entire seat in toilet paper and execute a squat if you find the whole thing too gross to contemplate. 

 

But can you actually catch diseases from merely sitting on the seat? Or are the elaborate techniques some people use to avoid contact completely unnecessary? Here's what microbiologists have to say.

 

What you (probably) won't catch

"Theoretically, yes [you can catch diseases from the toilet seat], but the risk is vanishingly low," says Jill Roberts, a professor of public health and microbiology at the University of South Florida.

 

More:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250814-can-you-catch-diseases-from-toilet-seats

Yes, you can get "diseases" though the chances are low. Depends on how long you sit and how often the seats are cleaned. Some virus' could be acquired or get by flushing or touching parts in the toilet.

 

However, I always got a single use toilet paper seat in all of my pockets to avoid any contact with the seat.