Microbial contamination of hands with or without the use of electric
toilet seats with water spray (bidets) after defecation
Abstract
Objective: Electric toilet seats with water spray (bidets) are
gaining in popularity all over the world. However, the extent of
reduction in microbial contamination of hands with the use of bidets
after defecation is not known. Methods: The microbe
contamination of hands with and without the use of bidets after
defecation with the participation of 32 nursing students was studied.
Double gloves were worn on the dominant hand and four layers of toilet
paper were used to wipe the buttocks after defecation and the microbe
contamination of the second glove (outer glove) of the double gloves was
examined. The volunteers were free to select flow volume, wash time of
the bidet and even the type of bidet for use was left up the individual.
Results: Without the use of a bidet, the average value ±
standard deviation of the number of microbe attached to the gloves was
39,449.3 ± 77,768.3 colony forming units (cfu) / glove; however, it was
4,146.9 ± 11,427.7 cfu / glove when a bidet was used.The number of
microbe adhering to gloves was significantly reduced when a bidet was
used (p <0.0001, Wilcoxon singed-rank test).
Conclusion: It was discovered that reduction of microbe
contamination of hands was possible with the use of bidets after
defecation.