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HPV
can you get HPV through a toilet seat??
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Want to answer more questions in the Sexual Health and Reproduction category?
Maybe give some free advice about: STD Information?
Well, according to this about.com website, you cannot contract HPV through public toilet seats:
"Fortunately, this is a myth, but still remains a common belief among many people. The human pappillomavirus (HPV) cannot be transmitted through sitting on a toilet seat. Because viruses cannot survive long outside of the body, HPV cannot be transmitted this way."
From: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
HPV is transmitted through sexual skin-to-skin contact from an infected partner. No penetration is required to contract HPV. HPV can be transmitted through:
vaginal intercourse
anal intercourse
oral sex
touching your infected partner's genitals and then your own
sharing sex toys with an infected person without disinfecting first
genital-to-genital contact (same or opposite sex)
I do know that HPV can live in your fingernail (and toenail) beds so you have to really scrub those up well. I am not sure why they didn't include "fingering" on their list. Since the website says:
"viruses cannot survive long outside of the body"
The word "long" implies that they can survive out of the body for a short period of time. This does sound like it technically possible to contract HPV from a freshly-used toilet seat. Try to not come in contact with toilet seats and always use a paper protector if you cannot squat properly above. It's better to be safe than sorry, in my opinion.
As a note, if you cannot do either, bring some hand-sanitizer in your purse. Take some of that and apply it to some toilet paper and quickly "wash" off the seat. Many women do this simply because the thought of the unwashed toilet seat even coming close to them is icky.
So, in short, the answer seems to be no but you should still be on the safe-side in case a few of the HPV cells survive by the time you go into the stall.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask me! :)
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no clue, but i always squat using public toilets
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yes you can so always use a seat protector.
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