The Legend of the Toilet Infection; is that vaginal discharge really from the toilet?

Okay ladies, and those who care about them, it is high time we got this matter settled once and for all. A lot of my call-receiving time has been spent correcting this wrong notion. Often my fingers ached from time spent typing on various chatting platforms exploring this subject. At work, I am bound to attend to such. I am getting tired, these ‘toilet infections’ won’t just go away. 

So I now attempt to do this and hopefully succeed at it – I Intend to debunk the legend of the toilet infection. In the past, ladies have called me complaining of having toilet infection; often they can trace this to a particular toilet they used or shared in the recent past. But they are wrong. There’s nothing like ‘toilet infection’ – it does not exist in the sense it is used.

Once upon a time in faraway Europe (Or was it America?) there was an increasing incidence of sexually transmitted infections(STIs) with associated vaginal discharge and as it turned out neither the rich nor poor was spared and they all sought medical intention. The physicians who saw them had no problem telling the poor and less privileged what their problem was – a sexually transmitted infection (STI). But there was a difficulty with the rich women, some kind of awkwardness. Unlike when they sat in their clinics and the poor women came to them, they were called to the homes of the wealthy to attend to the privileged women of the society often in the company of their wealthy husbands. The physicians had a problem, how do you tell the wife in the presence of her husband her vaginal discharge was due to a STI? Many found an easy way out. Who was the culprit they could pin this on; someone who was regularly at the ‘crime scene’ yet defenseless against such allegations? Only one met these criteria – the toilet seat. Though an innocent bystander yet it was always at the ‘crime scene’ and, importantly, defenseless.

So these physicians instead of telling these ladies, and their gentlemen, they suffered from a STI or any other vaginal infection, they found it easier to explain to them they had infections gotten from the toilet. Of course, they would treat them for STIs tagging it as medication for toilet infection. The symptoms resolved, the doctor was not embarrassed; everyone was happy. 

The arrangement suited all only that somehow from there the legend spread on. You know what they say, tell a lie often enough it starts to sound like the truth. Thus the story spread from mouth to mouth and toilet seats were replaced one after the other while the infection spread from one vagina to the other till it became a legend – the legend of the toilet infection. And it was passed down generations, from mothers to their daughters who passed it on to their own daughters. Somewhere along the line it filtered into the ears of the maids of the wealthy who made no light of such role of toilet seats and told of it to their own daughters who also in turn told their own daughters. 

The society at some point yet to be precisely determined accepted it as the truth – vaginal infections are often gotten from the toilet. It was a comfortable lie the society chose to live with.

The above story is partly imaginative. However, it illustrates the point. Experts have looked into this legend, conducted studies and concluded that only in extreme highly improbable conditions will a woman contact a vaginal infection from contact with the toilet seat. So where do these infections come from?

Most abnormal vaginal discharge in sexually active women is caused by a vaginal infection commonly from sexual contact. Okay, there’s someone reading this who has experienced abnormal vaginal discharge despite not being sexually active who is thinking, so how come she had that?  Other factors or practices that increase the risk of having a vaginal infection include douching, prolong/inappropriate use of antibiotics( all those women who take antibiotic routinely for ‘tiredness’ should take note), use of steroids, and use of vagina perfumes or sprays to mention a few. Occasionally, an abnormal vaginal discharge may be caused by cancer of the genital tract. I have observed during the course of my practice that many women douch regularly claiming to ‘wash off’ the vagina dirt. Only wish they knew better that douching actually puts them at risk for having ‘dirty vagina’. The normal vagina has a normal discharge from lining cells and glands which can vary in quantity and consistency with the phases of the menstrual cycle. It also has its own normal flora consisting of ‘good’ bacteria present in the right quantity. 

Douching disrupts this fine balance predisposing to excessive amounts of the ‘good bacteria’ or making it easier for foreign, ‘bad’ organisms to colonize the vagina. Stop the practice of douching! The vagina on its own takes care of itself and needs not this overzealous help.

Where lies the solution? Foremost is prevention; the traditional ABCDs (Abstinence, Be faithful to one partner who is also faithful to you, Condom use and Drugs). If you have an abnormal vagina discharge, before rushing to self—medicate I advise a medical opinion is obtained. Your doctor may request for tests as appropriate and prescribe medications. It is important to note that untreated or poorly treated vaginal infections can in the long term further compromise a woman’s reproductive health. Safe sex cannot be overemphasized. Some hospitals and NGOs have STI clinics that are very friendly and can help with your complaints. You may want to look them up. Do not forget that a treatment for a STI is not complete without treatment of sexual contacts.

Whatever you do, please blame not that innocent toilet again. It has nothing to do with it. Or what do you think?