Can you catch germs from toilet seat?

We've all been there, you're desperate for the loo, and frantically hunting for a toilet, only to find when you get there, that the seat is covered with “droplets” from the previous user.

So what should you do — carry on regardless, or try and squat while you do your business?

The world is in many ways a microbial planet and, as its inhabitants, we carry within us our own microscopic rain forests — which we exchange with the environment and each other all the time.

Microbes are abundant throughout the human body, including the skin, mouth, eyes, urinary and genital organs and gastrointestinal tracts. Most people carry up to a kilogram of microorganisms. These are largely within the gut and comprise bacteria, fungi, yeast, viruses and sometimes parasites.

Public toilets carry a significant amount of bacteria — but squatting may not be much help

Research has shown that microbes from your gut make up 25- 54 percent of faecal matter.

Human faeces can carry a wide range of transmissible pathogens: Campy lob act er, Entero coccus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Yersinia bacteria — as well as viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus and hepatitis A and E, just to name a few.

So, of course, there is always going to be an infection risk in encountering faecal matter, but is there a serious risk of catching an infection from a public toilet?

Developing an infection from your bottom sitting on a toilet seat is very unlikely, as most intestinal diseases involve hand- to- mouth transfer of bacteria as a result of faecal contamination of hands, food and surfaces.

Human skin is also covered by a layer of bacteria and yeast which functions as a highly effective protective shield. Underlying this is your immune system which is good at protecting you from “dirty” pathogens.

So there is no need to squat over the toilet bowel. In fact, squatting may cause injury or increase the risk of infection.