Do you panic about public potty seats? Many people do. I get it. Just imagining how many sets of buns have been planted on the same exact toilet seat I must use is enough to stir up a little health scare in me. Is anxiety about sharing toilet seats warranted, though?
Well, kind of.
Don't worry about genital herpes or HIV. These diseases can't survive outside the body, says D. Scott Smith, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center in California. But you might worry about staph infections. There's a slight risk of picking one up -- you'll know you have one if you develop a mild skin irritation. And if your hands come in contact with germs in a filthy bathroom and you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, the bacteria can enter our body and cause diarrhea.
译文:
惧怕使用公共便盆
你是否害怕使用公共便盆？很多人都对此感到恐惧。对此我能够理解。稍微想像一下，我们必须要用的那个马桶座圈已经被无数个屁股坐过，这一点就足已引起我对自身健康的担心害怕。但是，这种担心是否有必要呢？
嗯，还是有点担心。
别担心生殖器疱疹或者艾滋病病毒。加州雷德伍德城凯撒医疗中心传染科的负责人斯科特 史密斯医学博士说，这些病毒在人体外是无法生存的。但是你可能要提防葡萄球菌感染。感染上葡萄球菌的风险是很小的——要知道，如果你有一个轻微的皮肤发炎并使用了受污便盆，你是有机会感染上这种病毒的。而且如果你的手接触到脏卫生间里的细菌，然后接触到你的眼睛、鼻子或者是嘴巴，这种细菌就能够入侵你的身体，从而引起腹泻。
