The use of electric toilet seats with water spray is efficacious in maintaining hand hygiene in experimental model

Abstract

A simulation experiment was conducted to examine hand contamination from wiping the buttocks after the use and non-use of an electric toilet seat with water spray. A model of the buttocks was smeared with artificial diarrheal feces containing Serratia marcescens, and wiped by the participants wearing disposable gloves with 4 sheets of toilet paper after the use and non-use of the water spray of an electric toilet seat. Subsequently, the presence of S. marcescens on the surface of the gloves was quantified. After using the water spray, the mean count ± standard deviation of S. marcescens was 0.067 ± 0.249 colony-forming units (cfu)/glove, and it was 4,275 ± 6,069 cfu/glove when water spray was not used. The cfu of S. marcescens was significantly lower when the water spray was used (p < 0.00001) prior to wiping the artificial diarrheal feces. This result supports the effectiveness of water spray to prevent defecation-related hand contamination.