What infections can spread in public bathrooms?

Many years ago, in a now defunct magazine, a journalist became the “bathroom satyr” and began describing, with humor and desperation, the state of public toilets of restaurants, cinemas and other venues in Buenos Aires.

Except during the Pandemic of 2020when cleanliness became almost an obsession for Argentines, public bathrooms left much to be desired.

Very different from what happens in other countries where it is difficult to find a dirty public bathroom, without paper towels or with toilets and other appliances in poor condition.

Therefore it is good to know which diseases can spread in these places and how to avoid it.

What infections can spread in public bathrooms?

Urine is not as dangerous as I did, where there are many more bacteria and viruses that can cause various diseases. Urine will be sterile when it leaves the body, unless it is infected. Fecal matter, on the other hand, contains many bacteria that can contaminate your hands despite using plenty of toilet paper or sanitary wipes.

But how do these pathogens get from one person’s fecal matter to another? Contagion occurs when someone touches a surface contaminated with bacteria or viruses. The process continues if the person touches their face (nose, eyes or mouth) without first washing their hands.

Because the skin, as long as no open wounds, constitutes a phenomenal protective shield, which resists viruses and bacteria. Therefore, specialists agree that the really low.

Of course, if the toilet does not have adequate hygiene, it becomes a greenhouse of dangerous bacteria. Plus, if no one cleans it, other people will deposit more pathogens there. Thus, poor hygiene increases the chances that a person who has a small skin lesion will become infected.

However, although the skin functions as a protective shield, it is also exposed to some infections, such as the one caused by Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics and difficult to treat, according to the Mayo Clinic website. MRSA has been detected in public restrooms and can be transmitted from the skin to a surface, such as the toilet seat, and from there. to someone else’s skin.

THE men they seem to be safer wash your hands after urinatingbecause it is almost inevitable to touch some element of the bathroom, such as the door handle or another element, where pathogens may be present.

Another issue to consider is that, when you press the button from the toilet tank or urinal, according to a study by Florida Atlantic University, they disperse microdroplets that can remain suspended in the air for a rather long period and reach 1.5 m in height. These droplets can transmit bacteria or viruses.

So, good advice is to lower the toilet lid before pressing the download button (it may also contain viruses and bacteria) to avoid this dispersion. The problem is that in many public toilets the devices simply do not have lids.

In addition to having cleaning staff to ensure hygiene, public toilets must have liquid hand soap, hot and cold water, paper towels or hand dryers. But the reality is that in most bathrooms The water only comes out cold and therefore has less power to kill germs.

According to a study by Professor Erica Donner, of the University of South Australia, the risk of contracting a disease depends primarily on cleaning he was born in bathroom ventilation.

Between viruses that abound in bathrooms Noroviruses stand out, which cause gastroenteritis; rotavirus (vomiting, diarrhea and even fever and abdominal pain) and hepatitis virus variants A and E.

Usually there are also bacteria like Salmonella and Shigella which cause diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps); Escherichia coli (diarrhoea, urinary and respiratory tract infections) e Streptococcus (angina, skin infections, scarlet fever, erysipelas, otitis and puerperal fever).

Five steps to avoid infections

the best way to avoid these infections It’s simple and has been widely popular during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020: wash your hands. But not in any way.

The “mechanism” can be summarized as five stepsaccording to the recommendations of the US Centers for Disease Control.

1. lather up well.
2. Rub your hands until soap foam forms, which should be rubbed into your hands. back of the hands, between the fingers and under the nails.
3. The next step is to rub your hands for at least 20 seconds (long enough to hum “happy birthday” twice from start to finish).
4. Rinse with water and dry your hands preferably with a paper napkin.
5. If soap is not available, use a hand sanitizer (with a minimum of 60% alcohol).