Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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The result of the study below is just as valid for COVID-19 which is subject to fecal spread.
On a somewhat related topic, you should have outdoor shoes and indoor shoes. I saw an extensive piece on TV on the safe handling and disinfecting of groceries and packages, but the MD said nothing about the shoes he'd just walked into his home wearing. What do you think could have easily settled on the floors of high traffic public areas like grocery stores via sneeze and cough droplets or tracked in on shoes via the toilet plume route from the infected, but not yet symptomatic? Get the same in your carpet or on your floors, especially with rug rats or pets, and the stuff will spread everywhere, eventually to hands and then faces.
I can't believe how this isn't getting coverage. People in serious hazmat gear wear disposable booties over their shoes/boots or special boots just to wear in the contaminated areas. I saw some poor old gal in China wearing empty grocery bags over her shoes.
Potential for aerosolization of Clostridium difficile after flushing toilets: the role of toilet lids in reducing environmental contamination risk. - Jan 2012
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22137761
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Toilet facilities in healthcare settings vary widely, but patient toilets are commonly shared and do not have lids. When a toilet is flushed without the lid closed, aerosol production may lead to surface contamination within the toilet environment.
AIM: To substantiate the risks of airborne dissemination of C. difficile following flushing a toilet, in particular when lids are not fitted.
FINDINGS: C. difficile was recoverable from air sampled at heights up to 25 cm above the toilet seat. The highest numbers of C. difficile were recovered from air sampled immediately following flushing, and then declined 8-fold after 60 min and a further 3-fold after 90 min. Surface contamination with C. difficile occurred within 90 min after flushing, demonstrating that relatively large droplets are released which then contaminate the immediate environment. The mean numbers of droplets emitted upon flushing by the lidless toilets in clinical areas were 15-47, depending on design. C. difficile aerosolization and surrounding environmental contamination occur when a lidless toilet is flushed.
CONCLUSION: Lidless conventional toilets increase the risk of C. difficile environmental contamination, and we suggest that their use is discouraged, particularly in settings where CDI is common.
On a somewhat related topic, you should have outdoor shoes and indoor shoes. I saw an extensive piece on TV on the safe handling and disinfecting of groceries and packages, but the MD said nothing about the shoes he'd just walked into his home wearing. What do you think could have easily settled on the floors of high traffic public areas like grocery stores via sneeze and cough droplets or tracked in on shoes via the toilet plume route from the infected, but not yet symptomatic? Get the same in your carpet or on your floors, especially with rug rats or pets, and the stuff will spread everywhere, eventually to hands and then faces.
I can't believe how this isn't getting coverage. People in serious hazmat gear wear disposable booties over their shoes/boots or special boots just to wear in the contaminated areas. I saw some poor old gal in China wearing empty grocery bags over her shoes.
Potential for aerosolization of Clostridium difficile after flushing toilets: the role of toilet lids in reducing environmental contamination risk. - Jan 2012
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22137761
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Toilet facilities in healthcare settings vary widely, but patient toilets are commonly shared and do not have lids. When a toilet is flushed without the lid closed, aerosol production may lead to surface contamination within the toilet environment.
AIM: To substantiate the risks of airborne dissemination of C. difficile following flushing a toilet, in particular when lids are not fitted.
FINDINGS: C. difficile was recoverable from air sampled at heights up to 25 cm above the toilet seat. The highest numbers of C. difficile were recovered from air sampled immediately following flushing, and then declined 8-fold after 60 min and a further 3-fold after 90 min. Surface contamination with C. difficile occurred within 90 min after flushing, demonstrating that relatively large droplets are released which then contaminate the immediate environment. The mean numbers of droplets emitted upon flushing by the lidless toilets in clinical areas were 15-47, depending on design. C. difficile aerosolization and surrounding environmental contamination occur when a lidless toilet is flushed.
CONCLUSION: Lidless conventional toilets increase the risk of C. difficile environmental contamination, and we suggest that their use is discouraged, particularly in settings where CDI is common.
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