‘Absolutely Wild’: Your toothbrushes and shower heads are teeming with viruses and bacteria, study finds - Science News

This study is a small snapshot, but the findings suggest that some viruses and bacteria could be dangerous to human health

A new study in the US has found an "absolutely wild" number of viruses living on shower heads and toothbrushes. Some of the detected microorganisms are new to science. The study was conducted by researchers from Northwestern University and is published in Frontiers in Microbiomes.

While this news might send you running to throw out your toothbrush and clean your shower heads, the presence of microbial viruses is not necessarily bad for our health. Even after cleaning the surfaces, microbes like bacteria and fungi inevitably come crawling back. Therefore, doctors and dentists advise regularly replacing toothbrushes and cleaning the bathroom to stop the growth of microorganisms.

But, a certain amount of exposure is inevitable, and it is vital to understand several microbes we commonly face. The study was conducted on 92 shower heads and 34 toothbrushes across the United States, using advanced DNA techniques to identify the bacteria and virus present.

Also Read | Scientists develop Spider-Man-inspired strong sticky fibre that can lift any object

Northwestern’s Erica M. Hartmann led the study and said, “The number of viruses that we found is absolutely wild. We found many viruses that we know very little about and many others that we have never seen before. It’s amazing how much untapped biodiversity is all around us. And you don’t even have to go far to find it; it’s right under our noses.”

The researchers also found bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacterial cells and replicate within them. The study suggests they are vital in shaping bacterial communities and may influence our health. These newly identified viruses can have implications for controlling harmful bacteria and might even lead to new therapeutic applications in the future.

The team found viral communities- aka viromes- living on the toothbrush and shower head. Researchers said a toothbrush shows a greater diversity of viruses than a shower head because the bacteria on toothbrushes come from human mouths, and food particles and those found on shower heads come from the environment.

Also Read | World Students Day: Check date, significance, reason for celebration and more details

This study is a small snapshot, but the findings suggest that some viruses and bacteria could be dangerous to human health. "Whether interactions between phages and their host have noteworthy implications on human health risks such as antimicrobial resistance dissemination in the built environments requires further investigation," the team concluded.

However, Hartmann, who led the study cautions against overreacting to these harmful microbes and said, "Microbes are everywhere, and the vast majority of them will not make us sick.” She said, "The more you attack them with disinfectants, the more they are likely to develop resistance or become more difficult to treat."

(With inputs from agencies)