Many Viruses Live on Your Toothbrush and Showerhead

Robert Novoski

Forget public toilets: Turns out your bathroom is full of viruses.

Researchers at Northwestern University studied two things most people use every day—toothbrushes and showerheads—to see what lives inside them.

What they found was “quite surprising,” said Erica Hartmann, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern who led research focused on identifying the virus species lurking in bathrooms. What was most unexpected, he added, was “how little we could identify that looked like something we’d seen before. We discovered extraordinary diversity, which highlights how little we know and how much more we have to explore and discover.”

But before you throw away your toothbrush or unpack your toiletries, keep that in mind most of the viruses Hartmann and his team discovered were specific species known as bacteriophages, or viruses that almost exclusively infect bacterial cells and not human cells. Scientists have known about phages for nearly a century, but only recently developed the tools necessary to identify and study them in more detail.

“We know very little about phages,” said Hartmann, who published his findings on October 9 in the journal Frontiers in the Microbiome. “But understanding it and expanding our knowledge in the field of microbiology could have major implications in other fields.”

Researchers, scientists, and drug developers have utilized phages and their ability to infect bacteria to better understand and produce compounds that can kill certain bacteria. Such efforts could lead to more effective antimicrobial options that do not involve antibiotics, to which bacteria can quickly develop resistance. “Phages are amazing and represent what I call the next frontier in biology or microbiology,” Hartmann said.

The research was inspired by previous research in which he and his team cataloged bacteria found in bathrooms after people expressed concerns about whether the bacteria was being released into the air every time they flushed the toilet, potentially contaminating their toothbrushes. In the study, Hartmann’s team concluded these fears were unfounded, because most of the bacteria they identified were strains originating from the human mouth. This time, they turned their attention to viruses—and discovered the world of phages.

The good news is that because the phages don’t infect human cells, “I don’t think our results give any cause for concern,” Hartmann said. “There’s absolutely nothing to worry about, so there’s no reason to throw away your toothbrush because of this.”

However, what these findings reveal is that there is a world of phages ripe for exploration. “Even identifying bacteria present on toothbrushes and showerheads expands our knowledge of phage biology and can help us explain why phage therapy works or doesn’t work in different contexts,” he said. “And the more we learn, the better the information will be on phage-based therapies.”

The diversity the researchers found—no two toothbrushes or two fountains harbored the same phage population—bodes well for a rich catalog of phages that may provide the basis for new treatments. These findings also expand our understanding of the various impacts microbes have on humans, both good and bad. “We don’t know exactly which microbes we are exposed to and when, or how those microbes promote health or well-being,” Hartmann said. “But in general, it’s important to look at the microbes around us with curiosity and curiosity, not fear. If we could figure out what all the microbes do, and how they do it, we could take better care of things like our toothbrushes—and in turn, take better care of ourselves and our environment.”

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