Will I get sick if I use hotel towels?

When we stay in a hotel, although everything inside will be cleaned, after all, it has been used by many people, especially towels, which are closest to our skin. Some people worry about getting sick when using these things. After all, many diseases are spread through public items. So, will you get sick if you use hotel towels? Let’s take a closer look.

In general, the risk and efficiency of the transmission of these diseases are indeed not high, but there are a few points we should still pay attention to.

Sleeping in direct contact with the sheets or naked

I recently had a patient who was fat and felt uncomfortable wearing pants, so he liked to sleep naked or on his stomach. When he was on a business trip to a hotel in the county, he contracted gonorrhea. This example proves that the probability of this happening does exist, although the risk is not high.

Use hotel bath towels and towels

If you do not bring your own towel for showering on a business trip, and use the hotel's towel or bath towel instead, the towel or bath towel itself may not be clean enough, which may lead to the spread of disease.

For example, some people use towels to wipe their feet, and they themselves have athlete's foot (athlete's foot is a common fungal infection) (if the hotel supplies are not disinfected up to standard). If the next person uses this towel containing fungus and uses the towel to wipe the lower body or other parts of the body, it may cause tinea cruris or tinea corporis, and cause fungal infections in other parts of the body.

I also had a patient who did not take a bath in a hotel but in a public bathhouse. The conditions were poor and the bath workers shared several bath towels, which led to his groin being infected with genital warts.

Although some common skin diseases and even some sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted through these forms, and although the overall risk and efficiency of the transmission of these diseases are indeed not high, we should still pay attention to them.

Especially those hotels that have just been reported in the news are involved in pornography, with prostitutes available on call at any time. Commercial sexual activities may take place in the hotel, and some secretions may come into contact with the sheets, quilts or towels. The probability of sexually transmitted diseases among this group of people is still relatively high. If the cleaning is not up to standard, the risk of infection cannot be ruled out.

Three tips for staying in a hotel:

●Try to bring your own towel when going out, especially the one for wiping your body and taking a shower.

●Try not to sleep naked or on your stomach. It is best to wear underwear and pajamas to keep a certain distance from the sheets and blankets. This may have a better effect and a lower risk of contracting diseases.

●Do not wear public non-disposable slippers.

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