Hohenstein Institutes, Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology, Schloss Hohenstein, Boennigheim, Germany.
J Appl Microbiol. 2012 Mar;112(3):614-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2012.05234.x. Epub 2012 Jan 31.
Gastro-intestinal infections are widespread in the community and have considerable economic consequences. In this study, we followed chains of infection from a public toilet scenario, looking at infection risks by correlating the transmission of bacteria, fungi and viruses to our current knowledge of infectious doses.
Transmission of Escherichia coli, Bacillus atrophaeus spores, Candida albicans and bacteriophage MS2 from hands to surfaces was examined in a transmission model, that is toilet brush, door handle to water tap. The load of viable pathogens was significantly reduced during transfer from hands to objects. Nevertheless, it was shown that pathogens were successfully transferred to other people in contagious doses by contact with contaminated surfaces.
Our results suggest that infection risks are mainly dependent on current infectious doses of pathogens. For enteritic viruses or bacteria, for example Norovirus or EHEC, only a few particles or cells are sufficient for infection in public lavatories, thus bearing a high risk of infection for other persons. However, there seems to be only a low probability of becoming infected with pathogens that have a high infectious dose whilst sharing the same bathroom.
The transmission model for micro-organisms enables a risk assessment of gastro-intestinal infections on the basis of a practical approach.
肠道感染在社区中广泛存在，并具有相当大的经济后果。在这项研究中，我们从公共厕所的场景出发，追踪了感染链，通过将细菌、真菌和病毒的传播与我们目前对感染剂量的了解相关联，来研究感染风险。
在传播模型中，我们研究了从手到表面的大肠杆菌、萎缩芽孢杆菌孢子、白色念珠菌和噬菌体 MS2 的传播。在从手到物体的转移过程中，存活病原体的负荷明显减少。然而，研究表明，通过接触污染的表面，病原体可以成功地以传染性剂量转移到其他人身上。
我们的研究结果表明，感染风险主要取决于当前病原体的感染剂量。例如，诺如病毒或肠出血性大肠杆菌等肠道病毒或细菌，在公共厕所中只需少量颗粒或细胞就足以感染，因此对其他人存在很高的感染风险。然而，在共用浴室的情况下，似乎感染高感染剂量病原体的可能性较低。
微生物的传播模型使我们能够根据实际情况对肠道感染的风险进行评估。
