Infectious Diseases

What is impetigo?

DEAR DOCTOR K: After a recent cross-country drive, staying in many roadside motels, I ended up with a skin infection called impetigo. Could I have gotten this infection in a motel? And how can I prevent it in the future?

DEAR READER: It would be difficult for me to say for certain where you picked it up. Impetigo is a highly contagious bacterial skin infection. The shorthand names for the two types of bacteria that cause impetigo are “staph” and “strep.” The same type of strep that causes strep throat can also cause impetigo. These bacteria can live on people’s skin without causing impetigo or any other visible signs. They also can live for short periods on upholstery, bed sheets, clothes and other objects a person may come into contact with.

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Do public toilet seats pose a health risk?

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DEAR DOCTOR K: A lot of my female friends seem overly worried about sitting on public toilet seats. They think doing so could give them diseases like herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV. I’m more worried about the mess left by those who “hover” over the seat unnecessarily. Who’s right?

DEAR READER: It’s not completely irrational to worry about dirty public toilet seats. Any contaminated surface can spread infectious disease. However, the real risk of catching a disease from a clean toilet seat is almost nonexistent.

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