5 Germs You Really Can Get From a Toilet

E.coli (Escherichia coli) is fecal-borne bacteria, and when you're talking about toilets, you're in the right neighborhood for contamination. E. coli is a bacteria that's normally found in our intestines, and if you're accidentally exposed to it -- usually from contaminated water or food, but it's been known to cling to nonporous surfaces, too -- you could be struck down with diarrhea (sometimes bloody), abdominal cramping and vomiting.

Gastrointestinal viruses such as norovirus (which is the bane of many a cruise ship crew and passenger), also cause stomach distress, and similar to E. coli, they are easily transmitted from person to person. Norovirus has been found contaminating nonporous surfaces, including toilet seats, for as long as two weeks (and that's despite those surfaces having been cleaned) [source: Said et al].

Shigella bacteria passes very easily among people, especially when you forget to wash your hands (or if you're among the 95 percent of people who don't correctly wash their hands). These bacterium causes shigellosis, but you're probably more likely to recognize one of its trademark infections: dysentery. Shigellosis causes infectious, severe diarrhea, abdominal cramping and other gastrointestinal distress that may last for about a week (although some types, such as dysentery, are known to be nasty enough to cause epidemics). And while the bacteria are most infectious during the diarrhea phase of the condition, they remains willing and able to infect you for weeks after their host is feeling better.

Shigella infections, similar to E. coli, happen when an infected person's feces contaminates a surface -- and, yes, those surfaces include toilets, toilet handles and toilet seats. You can also become infected if you consume contaminated food or water handled by an infected person who hasn't practiced good hygiene. Not to scare you, but about 14,000 cases are reported in the U.S. every year [source: CDC].

The best way to keep a toilet and its seat free of shigella bacteria is to clean it with bleach. Otherwise, keep the bacteria at bay by washing your hands, and if you just don't trust that toilet seat, wipe it down with a disinfectant or antibacterial wipe before you sit.

Streptococcus is a common bacteria that's usually found in your throat, and if you've ever had strep throat or bronchial pneumonia you've had some experience with it. Streptococci can also cause contagious skin infections, including impetigo (a rash that most often affects pre-school kids and babies). It can also cause an invasive, serious skin infection called necrotizing fasciitis (also known as "flesh-eating" bacteria). And here's the worst news: About 39 percent of toilet seats harbor this nasty bug [source: Shoemaker].

So, are we really talking about flesh-eating bacteria lying in wait on a public toilet seat? While it's possible you could contract such an infection from a shared seat, it's highly unlikely. Only about 1 percent of adults carry the strep bacteria on their skin or in their throat, and it's estimated that you're more likely -- at least 50 percent more likely -- to be struck by lightning this year than to develop such an infection [source: Paediactrics & Child Health].

Staph (Staphylococcus) likes to hang around, and it can contaminate a nonporous surface for longer than you may expect. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), for example, can live on a toilet seat -- and any nonporous part of a toilet -- for more than two months. And it only takes as few as three seconds for it to transmit from a seat to your skin [source: Clinical Infectious Diseases]. However, despite the bad news about its longevity, the truth about staph on toilet seats is this: You're more likely to expose yourself to it by using your cell phone than you are by sitting on toilet seat. More than half of all our phones carry the bacteria [source: Cohen].

Still not convinced that the toilet's safe? Then here's what you need to do: Skip those paper seat covers and carry antiseptic alcohol wipes with you. Wipe the seat before you sit. It's the only effective way to be sure you've killed staph, as well as other bacteria that may cause boils or skin infections.

Influenza and other viruses can live for as many as two or three days on nonporous surfaces, including your phone, the remote control and (no surprise) the toilet seat -- and some of these viral strains may live even longer. Bird flu, for example, can live for weeks, just waiting for you to have a seat [source: Wood, et al]. The common cold, on the other hand (or would that be the other cheek?), isn't that much of a threat. You could still catch a cold from the toilet seat, but rhinovirus usually survives less than a day on hard surfaces [source: Winther].

The trick with the cold and flu is not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth after you've touched the toilet seat (or a doorknob, or your office keyboard, etc.). It's easily transmitted through mucous membranes. We shouldn't have to remind you, but always wash your hands after using the bathroom.