Flatus and toilet air may be routes for faecal-oral infection

Abstract

Flatus that passes through an individual’s clothing into the atmosphere contains a substantial number of enteric bacteria. Airborne bacteria were also found in toilet air after defecation. From the literature, SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been found in patients’ stool and sewage. Although the present study did not attempt to isolate any SARS-CoV-2, the results suggest that flatus and toilet air are potential routes for fecal and oral transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The new variants are shown to spread more easily between humans, and this hidden route should be aware of virus transmission. *Correspondence to: Ryoichi Matsuda, Department of Science Education, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601, Japan, Tel: +81-3-5228-8279, Fax: +81-3-5228-8279; E-mail: cmatsuda@ rs.tus.ac.jp