(NEWS.YAHOO) — Flushing the toilet with the lid up can spray diarrhea-causing bacteria into the air, according to a new study of hospital toilets.
Researchers from Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the U.K. detected C. difficile - a germ that can cause diarrhea and even life-threatening inflammation of the colon - nearly 10 inches above the toilet seat after flushing lidless hospital toilets. C. difficile is frequently found in hospitals and long-term care facilities were antibiotics are common.
"The highest numbers of C. difficile were recovered from air sampled immediately following flushing, and then declined 8-fold after 60 [minutes] and a further 3-fold after 90 [minutes]," the researchers reported in the January issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection.
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