Can Herpes Be Transmitted Through Using Common Toilet?

Posted on Tue, 23 Apr 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 Answered on

Tue, 21 May 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : gentle herpeshi my name is XXXXXXX and I want to ask a question my best friend found out that she have herpes and I was wondering can u catch gentle herpes from object like toilet seats cause she used my bathroom and I was wondering is that true or not cause I know you can catch it from intercourse I hope its not true I know u can catch it from skin contact

Answered by Dr. Timothy Raichle (1 hour later)

Hello, I would be happy to help you with your question.

Herpes, genital and oral, is only transmitted through direct skin-to-skin contact. It cannot be picked up from a toilet seat.

I hope that this helps. Please ask if you have additional questions.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar