When you use a public restroom, it is natural to wonder about the germs on every surface. One common concern is whether or not you can catch an STD from splashing toilet water.
The answer isn’t obvious, but there are some things you should know. First and foremost, it is important to understand that STDs are not transmitted through water or toilet seats.
Although bacteria and viruses can survive on surfaces for a short period of time, the risk of contracting STIs from toilet water is very low. However, there are some circumstances under which transmission can occur.
You don’t have to be afraid to use public toilets just take some basic precautions
If you use the toilet directly after someone with an STD, and their bodily fluids are still on the seat or in the bowl, pathogens can come into contact with your mucus membrane and cause infection.
That is why it is important to take precautions when using public bathrooms or toilets, especially if you have any cuts or sores in the genital area.
What is the risk of catching an STD from the toilet?
We’ll debunk this persistent myth, revealing the real dangers connected to STD transmission through the use of toilets and offering helpful advice to allay remaining concerns. Let’s clear the air and distinguish fact from fiction regarding the spread of STDs through the use of toilets.
Transmission of STDs
By definition, an STD can only be caught through sexual contact. The viruses, parasites, or bacteria responsible are only capable of surviving for a short time outside the human body that hosts them.
Yes, they prefer to stay in a warm and humid environment. You would therefore have to be in contact with the infectious agent when it settled on the edges of the toilet bowl, which is unlikely to happen (but what happens in your toilet is none of our business) more reasons you need to keep a high hygiene.
An infected person, even if they sit on the toilet seat, we therefore not be able to contaminate you if you pass afterwards. You can only catch an STD through skin-to-skin contact, or through bodily fluids. All doctors, supported by the WHO will confirm this to you.
Other types of infections
What you might worry about catching from the toilets are urinary infections. But also infections via micro injuries in the anal area, because the skin is very thin. If you rub like a madman, thinking you will get your royal butt all clean, you could get hurt.
Toilet flush: Reality
When it comes to using public restrooms, one of the biggest concerns is the possibility of contracting sexually transmitted diseases from splashing toilet water.
Although this is alarming, the reality is that the chances of contracting an STD from splashing toilet water are very low.
Hygiene has the sole objective How to protect yourself from STDs
We should rather talk about sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This includes illnesses, but not only. This is the case with the human papillomavirus or HPV.
If this lesion progresses, it can lead to cervical cancer. But basically, it is an infection. 80% of people catch it during their lives, sometimes without knowing it (and therefore transmit it to others).
You can protect yourself by getting vaccinated, but above all by doing regular screenings. Indeed, even if you use condoms during penetration, you are not completely protected from STIs. Any vagina, anal, or oral sexual intercourse is a gateway for infectious germs.
How to avoid infection in the toilet?
Hygiene in the toilet
Once is not custom; prevention is the best medicine. We must therefore ensure that contact between bacteria and the risk area is limited.
When you go to the toilet, it is the urinary, vagina, and anal tracts that are the most sensitive. The first source of contamination is stools.
Fecal matter is a home for microorganisms because it has stayed and traveled in a part of the digestive tract, which naturally contains a certain number of them.
They are not dangerous in their environment but can become dangerous if they come into contact with a sensitive, weakened area. The little tricksters.
We therefore advise you to be careful when wiping yourself with toilet paper. That is why it is advisable to use reusable butt wipes, which are as gentle on your butt as they are on the environment and your wallet! If you use them in addition to a toilet shower, it is the best way to take the lead, why watch your back?
The same person can thus be the source of several dozen infections. so the only thing you can be sure of is what you are doing or what you have done with your own even in the case of absolute and shared fidelity, one of the two partners may, without knowing it, have contracted an STD before knowing their stable partners, and that is the whole problem.
Wisdom, Prudence, and simple common sense dictate a simple rule to follow:
Use condoms with each new male or female partner, regardless of the type of sexual intercourse. The condom is the only way to prevent an STD. The AIDS virus is the most publicized microbe and therefore the most feared. However, it is not the one that is most easily caught.
Hygiene after using the toilet
You can’t be sure that the flush button is clean (there is even a small chance that it is). What if the guy before you had gastroenteritis? Also, it is up to you to remember to wash your hands with soap when you come out of the toilet.
If it seems obvious to always flush the toilet, the ideal is to close the toilet seat. These avoid projecting droplets contaminated by stool onto the edges of the bowl.
Conclusion
The risk of contracting STIs from splash toilet water is very low. While it is possible for disease-causing pathogens to be present in toilet water, the chances of this pathogen coming into contact with your orifices and causing an infection are slim.
It is important to note that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases occurs primarily through sexual contact, not through accidental exposure to toilet water. Therefore, it is not necessary to avoid using public toilets for fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
References
- Li, Y.-Y., et al. (2020). Can a toilet promote virus transmission? From a fluid dynamics perspective.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7301880/ - Abney, S. E., et al. (2021). Toilet hygiene — review and research needs.
https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jam.15121
