If the Toilet Paper in Public Bathroom Looks Like This, Don’t Use It - Physician Warns

Our body doesn't care if we're dining in a restaurant, shopping at the mall, or strolling through the park- when nature calls, it has to answer. Thanks to today's civilized world, we have public restrooms everywhere. While they often are a savior in dire times, these restrooms also serve to be the sources of contagious diseases. Especially, when it comes to toilet paper rolls, there could be unknown viruses luring even in the unused part of the roll. London-based doctor Sermed Mezher (@drsermedmezher) advised people not to use paper rolls in public restrooms if they find spots of blood on them- probably transferred from a syringe.

"Do not use it. That's because these marks are signs that intravenous (IV) drug users are trying to clean their needles to be able to reuse them again,” the award-winning doctor from London advised in a since-deleted TikTok video, per LADBible. He explained that when a person wipes his needle with tissue paper, any infection in their blood often gets transmitted to the paper, which puts the lives of other users at risk. People who use a paper roll that bears these strange blood-red markings are at risk of catching conditions including blood-borne illnesses.

"IV drug users who lack access to sterile equipment may try to clean their used needles with toilet paper in public restrooms, believing it will reduce the risk of infection,” the physician explained, “However, this method is ineffective in properly sterilizing the needle. Toilet paper is not designed for sanitation and can even carry bacteria or other contaminants. Needles that have been used for injecting drugs often contain blood, which may be infected with blood-borne pathogens like HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C.”

However, as it turned out, the doctor was thinking it a bit wrong. In the follow-up video on Instagram, the doctor corrected his mistake by saying that an infected toilet paper roll doesn’t actually pose the risk of HIV or hepatitis. “HIV and Hepatitis viruses cannot be transmitted through toilet paper because these viruses require specific conditions to survive and transmit from person to person,” he noted in the reel’s caption, “Both HIV and the Hepatitis viruses are bloodborne pathogens, meaning they are primarily spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids like blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and, in the case of Hepatitis, sometimes saliva.”

He shared that these viruses don’t survive outside the human body such as on the bathroom paper roll. He concluded that the “risk of transmission through an inanimate object like toilet paper is still virtually nonexistent.” He relaxed his viewers by saying that everyday use of a blood-infected paper roll doesn’t put people at risk. But even then, nobody wants to use a paper roll with blood on it even if they don’t get viruses, he said.

Although people criticized the doctor’s claims, the dark reality of paper rolls being infected is not entirely inaccurate. In a viral video, a Walmart employee also urged people to not use the paper rolls in public bathrooms if they spot pin-like blood markings on them. Addressing all women, he stressed that they should carry their own wipes to avoid using blood-stained tissues. “For all my ladies out there, you have no choice but to use toilet paper, so I suggest checking your toilet paper before you sit down to use the bathroom, or just bring wipes of your own,” he said. The crux, at last, is, better safe than sorry.

You can follow Dr. Sermed Mezher (@drsermedmezher) on Instagram for more medical tips.