5 ms·

How many cases have there been of people getting sick from things on their bathroom counter though? Like sure, you're measuring the physical phenomena and then

How many cases have there been of people getting sick from things on their bathroom counter though? Like sure, you're measuring the physical phenomena and then concluding it leads to sickness but how significantly does it lead to sickness?

unsupp0rted 3y ago
It’s very hard to measure and attribute. But that doesn’t mean it’s not common. Similar to how many (?) cases of patients getting sick from a doctor’s neck tie or a nurse having used a touchscreen. It’s almost certainly not zero. Is it a lot though?
- Sakos 3y ago
  I think it's not really relevant for your home toilet, but once you start thinking about public toilets in high traffic areas and/or high points of contact between different population groups like airports, doctor's offices, hospitals, malls, etc., I don't know why it wouldn't be worth investigating this and the potential risks.
  - q1w2 3y ago
    It's definitely relevant in family homes where parents/siblings/guests share bathroom use. When one child gets sick in our house, we take some efforts to keep them somewhat isolated, and these measures have been usually successful. The bathroom is the weak link in their routine as they continue to share it with siblings. This report reinforces us asking them to spray disinfectant. Before we enacted some of these policies in our home, one kid getting a bug from school meant the entire family would get it. Now that's much less common.
    - mariushn 3y ago
      What other measures do you take? How do the children feel about it, do they understand why it's necessary? Thanks
digging 3y ago
> measuring the physical phenomena and then concluding it leads to sickness No such conclusion is made, though.
chasil 3y ago
Aerosolized measles can remain suspended in the air for a significant time. There would be nothing that you could do avoid it in this scenario. I've read elsewhere today that anything under 95% vaccination will result in outbreaks; the r-naught is 12-18 if google is correct.
- renaudg 3y ago
  > There would be nothing that you could do avoid it in this scenario. Masking.
chiefalchemist 3y ago
Or even if it does, is that a short term pain but a longer term strengthening of the immune system? We keep sanitizing our environment - which is an outlier's outlier relative to the history of the species - and we keep getting more ill, more autoimmune diseases, more allergies, etc. TBH when my friend's dog links my face, I sometimes lick my lips. The odds of that making me stronger are 1000x the odds of it killing me. Mind you, I'm not going to lick a toilet bowl. But perhaps some minor exposure to such things isn't so bad in the broader sense?
- jt2190 3y ago
  Things that use your body to reproduce are difficult to “limit” such that you guarantee “minor exposure”. Instead, you’re gambling that your immune system can mount a response quickly enough to “limit” the illness. Perhaps the benefit of making your immune system mount a response is that it’s now “trained”. (This is of course the basic concept behind a vaccine: “train” the immune system and “limit” the risk of serious illness.)
  - chiefalchemist 3y ago
    Gambling? That what...my lifelong way of living is going to suddenly kill me? I don't think so. Again, the species developed in a less than sterile environment, and suddenly we're going to clean that up and there are no unintended consequences? People are chugging soda and eating over-processed food are...worried about flushing the toilet? Let's weigh the risks here.
    - Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
      > Again, the species developed in a less than sterile environment Yes, and early death from disease was incredibly common. The discovery of penicillin is estimated to have saved over 200 million lives.
      - chiefalchemist 3y ago
        Early death from what? When? fwiw, if we keep doling out antibiotics as we are, we'll be happy with only losing 200 million. So again, are we making gains or grabbing a balloon?

unsupp0rted 3y ago

It’s very hard to measure and attribute. But that doesn’t mean it’s not common. Similar to how many (?) cases of patients getting sick from a doctor’s neck tie or a nurse having used a touchscreen. It’s almost certainly not zero. Is it a lot though?

Sakos 3y ago
I think it's not really relevant for your home toilet, but once you start thinking about public toilets in high traffic areas and/or high points of contact between different population groups like airports, doctor's offices, hospitals, malls, etc., I don't know why it wouldn't be worth investigating this and the potential risks.
- q1w2 3y ago
  It's definitely relevant in family homes where parents/siblings/guests share bathroom use. When one child gets sick in our house, we take some efforts to keep them somewhat isolated, and these measures have been usually successful. The bathroom is the weak link in their routine as they continue to share it with siblings. This report reinforces us asking them to spray disinfectant. Before we enacted some of these policies in our home, one kid getting a bug from school meant the entire family would get it. Now that's much less common.
  - mariushn 3y ago
    What other measures do you take? How do the children feel about it, do they understand why it's necessary? Thanks

digging 3y ago

> measuring the physical phenomena and then concluding it leads to sickness No such conclusion is made, though.

chasil 3y ago

Aerosolized measles can remain suspended in the air for a significant time. There would be nothing that you could do avoid it in this scenario. I've read elsewhere today that anything under 95% vaccination will result in outbreaks; the r-naught is 12-18 if google is correct.

renaudg 3y ago
> There would be nothing that you could do avoid it in this scenario. Masking.

chiefalchemist 3y ago

Or even if it does, is that a short term pain but a longer term strengthening of the immune system? We keep sanitizing our environment - which is an outlier's outlier relative to the history of the species - and we keep getting more ill, more autoimmune diseases, more allergies, etc. TBH when my friend's dog links my face, I sometimes lick my lips. The odds of that making me stronger are 1000x the odds of it killing me. Mind you, I'm not going to lick a toilet bowl. But perhaps some minor exposure to such things isn't so bad in the broader sense?

jt2190 3y ago
Things that use your body to reproduce are difficult to “limit” such that you guarantee “minor exposure”. Instead, you’re gambling that your immune system can mount a response quickly enough to “limit” the illness. Perhaps the benefit of making your immune system mount a response is that it’s now “trained”. (This is of course the basic concept behind a vaccine: “train” the immune system and “limit” the risk of serious illness.)
- chiefalchemist 3y ago
  Gambling? That what...my lifelong way of living is going to suddenly kill me? I don't think so. Again, the species developed in a less than sterile environment, and suddenly we're going to clean that up and there are no unintended consequences? People are chugging soda and eating over-processed food are...worried about flushing the toilet? Let's weigh the risks here.
  - Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
    > Again, the species developed in a less than sterile environment Yes, and early death from disease was incredibly common. The discovery of penicillin is estimated to have saved over 200 million lives.
    - chiefalchemist 3y ago
      Early death from what? When? fwiw, if we keep doling out antibiotics as we are, we'll be happy with only losing 200 million. So again, are we making gains or grabbing a balloon?