Study finds over 600 different viruses from shower heads, toothbrushes

Showerheads and toothbrushes in your bathroom are teeming with an extremely diverse collection of viruses most of which have never been seen before warned a study on Wednesday A team of microbiologists from Northwestern University in the US identified more than 600 different viruses from samples collected from shower heads and toothbrushes Surprisingly no two samples were alikeThe good news the researchers said is that these viruses do not target people They target bacteriaThe microorganisms collected in the study are bacteriophage or ldquophagerdquo a type of virus that infects and replicates inside of bacteriaWhile little is known about them phage recently have garnered attention for their potential use in treating antibioticresistant bacterial infectionsThe previously unknown viruses lurking in our bathrooms could become a treasure trove of materials for exploring those applications revealed the study published in the journal Frontiers in MicrobiomesldquoThe number of viruses that we found is absolutely wildrdquo said indoor microbiologist Erica M Hartmann from Northwestern who led the studyldquoWe found many viruses that we know very little about and many others that we have never seen before Itrsquos amazing how much untapped biodiversity is all around us And you donrsquot even have to go far to find it itrsquos right under our nosesrdquo Hartmann an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at NorthwesternHartmann used DNA sequencing to examine the viruses living on those same samples and found ldquono overlap in virus types between showerheads and toothbrushesrdquoldquoWe also saw very little overlap between any two samples at all Each showerhead and each toothbrush is like its own little island It just underscores the incredible diversity of viruses out thererdquo Hartmann saidWhile they found few patterns among all the samples Hartmann and her team did notice more mycobacteriophage than other types of phageMycobacteriophage is known to infect mycobacteria a pathogenic species that causes diseases like leprosy tuberculosis and chronic lung infections According to Hartmann researchers may someday harness mycobacteriophage to treat these infections and othersldquoWe could envision taking these mycobacteriophages and using them as a way to clean pathogens out of your plumbing systemrdquo she said ldquoWe want to look at all the functions these viruses might have and figure out how we can use themrdquoMost microbes lsquowill not make us sickrsquo said Hartmann asking people to not panicInstead of grabbing for bleach people can soak their shower heads in vinegar to remove calcium buildup or simply wash them with plain soap and water she said while suggesting regularly replacing toothbrush headsldquoMicrobes are everywhere and the vast majority of them will not make us sickrdquo she said ldquoThe more you attack them with disinfectants the more they are likely to develop resistance or become more difficult to treat We should all just embrace themrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever