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by AB-Joel on March 12th, 2004

AB-Joel

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Is it actually possible to catch a disease from a toilet seat?

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Answers. 24 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonymous on January 2nd, 2007

    Anonymous

    OK, here's the deal:

    You can get cooties, and that's about it. Sexually transmitted diseases are spread via sexual intercourse with an infected person. Most of them are spread more easily from male to female. The diseases vary in how infectious they are, but none of them are spread on toilet seats (well, assuming you're using the toilet seat for what it was intended). Most bugs don't tend to live on cool, hard surfaces.

    I could add that a couple of diseases - syphilis and herpes - can be spread by direct non-sexual contact with infectious lesions, so make sure there is not an infected person already on the toilet when you sit down. One should consider HOW people sit on toilet seats. Genital and anal infections most likely would not come in contact with the seat in normal use. Intact skin is a good barrier against most disease organisms ... unless of course one were to pick up a bacterium or virus on the seat, then immediately plant their buttocks on someone's nose and mouth. If this were to happen to me, disease transmission would be the least of my concerns.

    As far as other kinds of diseases that have different routes of transmission, such as oral/fecal or airborne, the hands are more to blame for spreading these diseases than the bottom is. Shake hands with a carrier, touch your eyes or mouth, and voila! You've caught that person's cold or influenza. Eat food prepared by a person with hepatitis A (who didn't wash their hands after using the toilet), and hey, you've got hepatitis! I guess theoretically if you sat on feces on the seat, got some on your hands when you wiped yourself, then licked your fingers (mmm, mmm!) you could possibly get hepatitis A, but it isn't a primary route of transmission. Urine doesn't carry any common diseases that I know of, but I sure hate it when people leave the seat wet.

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  • by Yoyo Head on March 13th, 2004

    Yoyo Head

    Toilet seats are not major culprits in spreading diseases. If you have an open sore on your bottom it's probably more likely, but in that case you'd be at risk in any public place. You can't get a sexually transmitted disease from a toilet seat, especially HIV. The HIV virus can't survive exposure to the air. The best thing to do if you think a toilet seat is yucky is to wipe it off with toilet tissue, then flush the tissue down before using the toilet. Then wash your hands after using the facility because there are still germs on the flush handle, and definitely the sink, doorknob, etc. It's your hands that come in contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth, which are open doors into your body. Keeping the hands clean is vital.

    In a public bathroom, it's a good idea not to touch the faucet to turn off the water, or the doorknob to leave, after you wash your hands. This is especially true if you are at a restaurant and cleaning up before you eat. Doorknobs are dirty things. Consider keeping the towels in your hands not only after you dry them, but when turning off the water and when opening the door as well. I'm always glad to see that a public restroom has a door that can be opened from the inside with just a push.

    And don't touch your face with your hands! Especially when using a public telephone!

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  • by Aelfward on January 12th, 2007

    Aelfward

    In aids ed. they tell you that you can get aids this way, but I think there were some qualifiers, like having to sit on the seat within a few minutes of the other person using it, or within a few hours if the seat was wet.
    Needless to say, I refuse to sit on wet toilet seats. <Grin>

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  • by GRAYWOLF on January 10th, 2007

    GRAYWOLF

    Possible? yes.

    Likely? no.

    The possibility is similar to getting a disease from a doorknob. As long as you wash your hands before putting them near your face after touching the seat you should be just fine.

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  • by FallingLeaf on January 8th, 2007

    FallingLeaf

    You can get crabs if you sit down! It happened to my friend.

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  • by brainsick_cow on January 6th, 2007

    brainsick_cow

    any diseases left on a toilet seat, will die very quickly..

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  • by Junk Yard Dog on January 6th, 2007

    Junk Yard Dog

    Anything is possible.......

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  • by dhervin on January 6th, 2007

    dhervin

    I think it's possible, but I heard on some news story that toilet seats were significantly cleaner than the desks students sit in in highschool.

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  • by nevets - badgicide on January 2nd, 2007

    nevets - badgicide

    If you had a cut on your bum, definitely. Make sure you check your bottom before you sit! ;)

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  • by Alatea on February 10th, 2006

    Alatea

    It's nearly impossible to catch diseases from toilet seats. Whatever microorganisms might lie on the seat's surface very rarely infect or contaminate anyone. You could live in a bubble and stay home, or worry yourself to death about toilet seats. Either way it’s not living, it’s avoiding life. Cross contamination of food/cleanliness at your local grocery store is more of a concern than toilet seats. There's always the exception but if you are healthy you are safe from the exception.

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  • by DA BEN DAN yanggui zi on January 12th, 2009

    DA BEN DAN yanggui zi

    no.

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  • by philosopher-saint on January 12th, 2009

    philosopher-saint

    "[My balls feel like a pair of maracas...I probably got those gonorrh-coccus]
    Got it from the toilet seat, it jumped right up and grabbed my meat..."
    Zappa
    (!)
    ;-)

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  • by nehaka on January 12th, 2009

    nehaka

    OOGLABOOGLA IS THE DISEASE!

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  • by teknimage on January 12th, 2007

    teknimage

    This has already been answered recently. Here's a link.

    http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/3733

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  • by Kumbaya on January 10th, 2007

    Kumbaya

    I think it's not probable, but possible.
    But: Did you know that the toilet seat is the part of a house which has the smallest quantity of bacteria?

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  • by Jim100 on January 2nd, 2007

    Jim100

    Active Aids virus has been found on lab counters 48 hours later after working with high concentrations of the virus. These concentrations do not ocur in nature.
    There is bacteria of some sort or other, many good bacteria, found on most surfaces. Even in glaciers there are viruses, and bacteria that are still alive thousands, and even millions of years since being frozen. I doubt that anyone will catch sexually transmitted diseases, as by their definition they are transmitted sexually. This has been often said to occur by people who have cheated on their spouse. I doubt it has ever been proven to occur.

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  • by Anonymous on February 20th, 2006

    Anonymous

    According to my medical doctor, no. he states that during all his years of practice, that he has never treated anyone with a rear infection, derived from a toilet seat. to further back my md's statement......my wife and i went to mexico on vacation. for two days, we bragged to each other about not having aquired diarreha. it hit me the third day....suddenly, without notice. i ran for the nearest toilet. in my desperation of urgency, used an outside toilet and no time for toilet seat covers, whew........i barely made it. being in mexico and not having time to cover the toilet seat, i can say with some assurance, that i did not receive any adverse effects from a naked toilet seat. this thought never crossed my mind, until i arrived back home. BUTT, i did give it some thought.

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  • by Cannabis its just a plant on June 14th, 2007

    Cannabis its just a plant

    Watch this

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  • by gtravels loves her life penguin on June 14th, 2007

    gtravels loves her life penguin

    Only if the person before you forgets to get up.

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  • by bigkado69 on January 12th, 2007

    bigkado69

    i would think crabs,but not sure.

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  • by nehaka on January 12th, 2009

    nehaka

    YES!THE DISEASE IS: ANTHROPOLITIS

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  • by anntuts on June 27th, 2007

    anntuts

    not only viruses...think about worms...tapeworms...pinworms and the like ;)

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  • by Anonymous on June 14th, 2007

    Anonymous

    You'd have to actually be TRYING to catch something.

    The most likely thing you could get is a skin rash or fungus.

    STD's, not very likely.

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  • by - M.C.S. - Dave on January 12th, 2009

    - M.C.S. - Dave

    Yes I would think so.

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  • Are there any disease that you can catch from a toilet seat, or is that a myth? If its possible, which diseases?

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