Warning over 'very rare' risk of using certain toilets

A doctor has warned that people could be at risk of contracting viruses by using public toilets

A UK doctor has issued a warning that using some public toilets could potentially expose you to viruses. Small, red marks found on toilet tissue could be specks of blood left by intravenous drug users cleaning their needles.

These needles, often used for injecting illegal drugs, may contain blood infected with pathogens such as hepatitis B, C or HIV. One London-based doctor has highlighted this as a 'possible' risk, although he emphasises it's a 'very rare' one.

Dr Sermed Mezher, a locum GP with over 200,000 TikTok followers, stated: "People have said the risk of transmission from using one of these is one in three for hepatitis and one in 300 for HIV.

Read more: The Cadbury selection box you can only get in one store

"But that's for healthcare workers who get direct impact when the blood is still wet. The risk of transmission if something has dried up like this is significantly lower but it's still possible."

Experts have long cautioned that intravenous drug users may sometimes resort to makeshift cleaning methods for their needles, such as wiping them with toilet paper or other available materials. However, this method is ineffective in properly sterilising the needle as wiping the needle with toilet paper does not remove or kill these viruses.

Instead, they may remain on the needle or expose people to indirect exposure by transferring to surfaces like sinks, toilet seats, or dispensers. Dr Mezher further added: "Of course it's also incredibly rare that a drug user would want to do this, as they would be blunting their needle.

"There are also needle exchange programmes which can help them get clean ones for free. These drug rehabilitation programmes are important not just to protect others but also ourselves as well."

Other experts have cautioned that the risk of contracting HIV from toilet paper is virtually impossible. Once outside the body, HIV "usually can't survive for very long", the Terrence Higgins Trust advises.

"Coming into contact with blood or semen that has been outside the body doesn't generally pose a risk for HIV transmission,' the charity notes.In another TikTok video, Harm Reduction Services - a California-based nonprofit organization - also warned it was unlikely toilet paper would be used to clean needles, given 'needles dull very quickly.They added: " the charity notes.

In another TikTok video, Harm Reduction Services - a California-based nonprofit organisation - also warned it was unlikely toilet paper would be used to clean needles, given 'needles dull very quickly.

They added: "If someone is cleaning needles to reuse them ... they're going to do it with a liquid, like a bleach solution, so it doesn't dull the tip."

However, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) hepatitis is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV. Hepatitis B virus can also survive outside the body for at least 7 days, the UN agency says.

It's estimated that there are 105,200 people living with HIV in the UK, according to National AIDS Trust. But only 94 per cent of these people are diagnosed, reports the Daily Mail.

This means that around one in 16 people living with HIV in the UK do not know that they have the virus.