Many people tend to be very wary of using public restrooms because of what they perceive as the health risks associated with them. The reality of most of them however is that they are clean enough to minimize the risk of anyone catching any infections from them, despite what people might think. Most restrooms in public places are cleaned at least a few times every day. Usually using harsh bleaches and industrial strength cleaners that are more then strong enough to kill any bacteria that might be found there.
It is of course possible to catch a multitude of ailments from a public restroom, just the same as it is in every public place. The most common place that carry bacteria are actually the handles of the toilet stall doors, rather then the toilets themselves. These often aren’t cleaned every time the toilet unit itself is. And whatever the previous occupant has had on their hands is transferred to the inside handle for you to come along and come into contact with. Remember that until they are outside of the stall already people haven’t had a chance to wash their hands already.
So after you have touched the handle it is always for the best not to touch your eyes or mouth, as these tend to be the areas that can be affected the most easily. Of course it is also important to wash your hands with an antibacterial wash after you have visited the bathroom. Water alone doesn’t always get all of the microbes that may have landed on you whilst in the toilet, so using some kind of wash is important.
Another important thing to remember is that when you are flushing the chain you should always have the toilet lid firmly closed. The contents of the bowl are sprayed upwards when the flush mechanism is activated. And this will end up all over whoever the flusher was if they don’t make sure that the lid was closed. Obviously the contents of a toilet bowl are hazardous to your health, particularly if they end up on your face.
There are always the exceptions however where certain people have just trashed a toilet for no reason. This is particularly the case in mens toilets. It is routine in some places to fond stalls with no toilet seats, as well as urine on the floor. In cases like this of course it is best to just find another rest room if possible. And if not then to be as careful as you can and not touch anything in there.
