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It's there for a reason! How flushing the toilet with lid up 'could spread winter vomiting bug'
By Claire Bates
Last updated at 7:54 AM on 4th January 2012
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Professor Mark Wilcox, Clinical Director of Microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said leaving the lid up can allow a cloud of bacteria to explode into the air, settling on nearby surfaces.
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'It is very clear from our work that the lid is there for a reason,' Professor Wilcox told Mail Online.
Professor Wilcox and colleagues from Leeds University conducted a study to see how using a toilet lid could affect the spread of disease, specifically in hospitals.
They used a sterilised toilet cubicle and created a 'diarrhoea effect' in the bowl using stool samples that had been infected with the hospital superbug C. difficile.
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Professor Wilcox said: 'We then put vegetable colour dye in the water bowl, lifted the lid and put cling film over the toilet seat. After we flushed the toilet we found it sprayed a large amount. By placing the film onto filter paper we found that the toilet could spray up to 50 droplets per flush.'
They noted that many hospital toilets don't have lids - ironically in an attempt to stop cross-contamination from handling a lid.
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'Our advice - put down the lid if it's there and wash your hands afterwards.
Full text:
By Claire Bates
Last updated at 7:54 AM on 4th January 2012
...
Professor Mark Wilcox, Clinical Director of Microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said leaving the lid up can allow a cloud of bacteria to explode into the air, settling on nearby surfaces.
...
'It is very clear from our work that the lid is there for a reason,' Professor Wilcox told Mail Online.
Professor Wilcox and colleagues from Leeds University conducted a study to see how using a toilet lid could affect the spread of disease, specifically in hospitals.
They used a sterilised toilet cubicle and created a 'diarrhoea effect' in the bowl using stool samples that had been infected with the hospital superbug C. difficile.
...
Professor Wilcox said: 'We then put vegetable colour dye in the water bowl, lifted the lid and put cling film over the toilet seat. After we flushed the toilet we found it sprayed a large amount. By placing the film onto filter paper we found that the toilet could spray up to 50 droplets per flush.'
They noted that many hospital toilets don't have lids - ironically in an attempt to stop cross-contamination from handling a lid.
...
'Our advice - put down the lid if it's there and wash your hands afterwards.
Full text:
