In many public toilets there are disposable toilet seat covers that can be placed over the seat before sitting down. These covers certainly allay some of the "yuck factor" associated with placing one bare buttocks where so many have gone before, but is there any evidence that these covers actually prevent the spread of communicable diseases?
1 Answer
As pointed out by @KonradRudolph, this is only a partial answer. It addresses sexually-transmitted diseases, but not others. It needs further additions or a companion answer to properly address the question.
Before we can point to the evidence that covers help, we need some evidence that there is any problem to solve.
In a Salon article, Mary Roach investigated this claim. She spoke to experts from:
- reproductive endocrinology at Mount Sinai Medical Center
- American Social Health Association
- CDC’s STD hotline
- a microbiologist from University of Arizona
She also searched Medline.
She concluded there was no evidence of people catching any diseases from toilet seats.
Aurora Health Care also looked into this. They looked at a number of possible diseases, and quote a number of health organisations, such as the CDC, suggesting contracting a sexually-transmitted disease from a toilet seat is a "highly unlikely prospect".
They do concede at the end that it "can't hurt" to
take a few extra hygienic precautions when using public toilet seats. If you use a public restroom, it is reasonable to wipe off the toilet seat and cover it with toilet paper or a toilet seat cover before sitting down.
However, some measures may have negative effects. Women who avoid contact by crouching empty their bladders less.
The "highly unlikely prospect" however may have happened. A case-study suggests Neisseria gonorrhoeae may have been transferred to a small girl from a toilet seat, possibly in the act of wiping it down.
However it is also accepted that cases of non-sexual transmission of N gonorrhoeae in children do occur, but proof beyond all doubt can be very difficult to document scientifically
It references another article that explains in its title "Nonsexual Transmission of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: An Infrequent Occurrence".
A related issue is "toilet-seat contact dermatitis" which is an allergic reaction to the materials in the toilet seat, as opposed to an infectious disease.
In conclusion, the issue of whether toilet seat covers prevent disease is largely moot, because the risk of disease from toilet seats is so very low. (Oh, and crouching to avoid contact may not be a smart idea.)
answered Dec 19, 2012 at 2:23
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4Isn’t the talk of STIs a straw-man here? I’m much more concerned about UTIs and intestinal infections with pathogens such as norovirus. Dec 19, 2012 at 13:17
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@Konrad: Interesting point. Pondering. (For what it is worth, I found no examples of those, during my search, either.)– Oddthinking ♦Dec 19, 2012 at 13:20
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Just to prove notability of this concern: our workplace toilets carry explicit warnings about norovirus infections and since I’m working in a healthcare research institute I wouldn’t a priori dismiss such warnings here (then again, our workplace health insurance also covers homeopathy and reflexology so we’re not immune to bunk either). Dec 19, 2012 at 13:23
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There does seem to be evidence that washing ones hands after using the bathroom does prevent disease transmission so there must be some risk associated with bathrooms.– DQdlMDec 19, 2012 at 13:44
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2@DQdlM: I know I have addressed this in a comment on another question - frequent handwashing may be advantageous even if ablutions are risk-free. Washing hands are visiting the bathroom may merely provide a convenient opportunity to wash your hands several times per day.– Oddthinking ♦Dec 19, 2012 at 13:49