Tuesday 29 December 2020

Toothbrush contamination in communal bathrooms



 

Data confirms that there is transmission of fecal coliforms in communal bathrooms at a university, and that toothbrushes can serve as a vector for transmission of potentially pathogenic organisms.

 

All toothbrushes were collected from participants using communal bathrooms, with an average of 9.4 occupants per bathroom. Regardless of the storage method, at least 60% of the toothbrushes were contamination with fecal coliforms. There were no differences seen with the effectiveness of the decontamination methods between cold water, hot water or rinsing with mouthwash and 100% of toothbrushes regularly rinsed with mouthwash had growth on MacConkey agar indicating fecal contamination (n=2).

 

Fecal coliforms were seen on 54.85% of toothbrushes, which has been seen in previous studies. There is an 80% chance that the fecal coliforms seen on the toothbrushes came from another person using the same bathroom.

 

See: ASM


 

Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources

Special offers