Assam Study reveals that coronavirus may spread through the use of common toilets

Guwahati: A study conducted in Assam has revealed that there is a high chance of the coronavirus spreading by both symptomatic and asymptomatic people through the use of common toilets.

As per reports, the study led by Dr Gayatri Gogoi, faculty from Assam Medical College, and Dr Dhananjay Ghanwat, Superintendent of Police, Dhemaji, monitored some 40,000 people under home quarantine.

Assam Police monitored home-quarantined people with the help of the Dibrugarh-based Pratishruti Cancer and Palliative Trust and found that 123 people had tested COVID-19 positive.

The study was reportedly carried out to determine whether common toilets can lead to the transmission of the dreaded virus among close contacts of the patients.

Carried out over two months (May-July), the study chose people who had been confirmed positive via the RT-PCR method and had agreed to participate in the study. 82% of the coronavirus patients who were observed were "asymptomatic."

"The relation of symptomatic/asymptomatic cases and subsequent positive members in the family is not much clear as other confounding factors were not controlled such as toilets. The sharing of common toilets by family members were found to be the main case cause. Living within the facility (quarantine centre of CRPF, all tenants of a single campus) found to be the common risk behaviour and strongly suspected to have caused the transmission to close contacts," the Assam study stated.

Somewhat worryingly, the COVID-19 spread at special quarantine centres of paramilitary forces was much 18 percent, a much higher number compared to 4 per cent under home quarantine. These facilities have common toilets, which is indicative of the possibility that the virus could have spread through the use of common toilets.

The study indicated a common source like toilet, irrespective of the symptomatic or asymptomatic condition of the patients.

A study by a research group in Hyderabad had also found COVID-19 particles in sewage water, which indicates that it could be a common source of infection.

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