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]

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[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.