| Studies have shown that fecal aerosols created from flushing of a toilet can be sprayed up to six feet. Toothbrushes can serve as a vector for transmission of bacteria in a fecal-oral route specifically in community bathrooms. Our hypothesis was that toothbrushes used for the study from communal bathrooms could contain potentially pathogenic bacteria. In this study 71 toothbrushes were collected from students at Quinnipiac University using communal bathrooms shared by an average of 9.38 people. At the time of toothbrush collection a survey was conducted about the toothbrush hygiene, oral and gastro-intestinal health, and the number of bathroom occupants. Samples were cultured after serial dilutions and plated on 5 types of media. The biochemical tests demonstrated the presence of fecal coliforms on the toothbrush heads. 16sRNA sequence analysis confirmed identical strains present on toothbrushes collected from the six communal bathrooms, three of these strains included fecal coliforms. This data suggests bacterial transmissibility via fecal-oral route by a toothbrush vector. |
