Thursday, October 20, 2011

Hi Gene!

Okay, now I am thoroughly grossed out.

No, really.



Don't touch! Study confirms your worst fears about public potties
No. 1: A new study on the germ orgies going down in America’s public restrooms truly puts the “P” in repulsive, repugnant and “Hey, how awesome are my Depends?”

No. 2: If you can, maybe just hold it until you get home.

Yes, we’re talking about relieving those two basic bodily functions and doing so in some of most bacteria-bedecked spaces anywhere. As long suspected, bathroom surfaces in U.S. restaurants, airplanes, stores, hospitals and other busy locales are often heavily contaminated with illness-causing microbes – and, in some cases, the bug colonies are even too large to measure, according to a paper to be presented Friday to the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Boston.

“I was surprised (at the sheer quantity of creepy crawlies) but, at same time, I wasn’t surprised because people use these things and people touch things,” said Dr. Lennox Archibald, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine.

“It does make you step back a bit and stake stock of the whole hand-hygiene thing,” added Archibald, who will present the findings. “And yes, it could make one paranoid.”

The rest of the story: