how do you use a public toilet without risking infections- breaking latest news

We are publishing a preview of part of an article in the new Corriere Salute. You can read the full text on the free issue on newsstands on Thursday 15 September or in Pdf on the Digital Edition of Corriere della Sera.

Everyone needs to use the public bathroom a bar, an office, a train, a cinema, a stop on the motorway, a hospital, a station. And it happens to everyone to experience that feeling of discomfort at the idea of ​​entering the place considered the kingdom of viruses, bacteria (and odors) and to ask: can you get an infectious disease by going to a shared toilet? Surprisingly, the probability is less than one might think, as researchers note in a review of studies on the transmission of infectious diseases in public toilets published in Science of The Total Environment. The danger is the possibility of an event occurring, in our case an infection. Risk is the likelihood of this event happening. The answer to the question therefore: yes, possible, almost unlikely if you know how to protect yourself from risk, first of all by washing your hands, explains Annalaura Carduccifull professor of General Applied Hygiene at the University of Pisa, co-author of a study published in the journal American Journal of Infection Control in which he compared the microbial and viral contamination of hospital toilets and offices.

Flush the toilet openinsufficient cleaning of the bathroom, sanitary ware, surfacesineffective hand dryingand presence of uncovered rubbish bins can encourage widespread bacterial and viral contamination in toilets.

The presence of pathogenic microorganisms does not mean that you get sick as soon as you set foot in the bathroom, infection does not necessarily mean illness, specifies the expert. The gradualness of risk can be likened to a lottery. If I buy a ticket there is a chance that I can win, if I buy two or more I have a better chance of making it, but I still have no security. What determines the number of tickets that you buy and which consequently increases or decreases the risk is a series of events and criticalities that occur in the various passages between the three key points that make up the so-called epidemiological triangle: source of infection, environment and susceptible host. The ultimate probability of getting sick is the combination of all these factors.

You can continue reading the article in Corriere Salute on newsstands for free on Thursday 15 September or in Pdf in the Digital Edition of Corriere della Sera.