# Pink Eye Transfered by flatulence? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251 "2008-10-02T23:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/1 "2008-10-02T23:52:40Z")
My roommate has this crazy idea that you can transfer Pink Eye by a “bare-ass fart on a pillow”. I don’t believe that this is possible and I’ve tried telling him, but he believes the movie he heard it from more then me. Now, I haven’t been able to find a reputable cite that disproves or agrees with this hypothesis, so I would appreciate if someone more knowledgeable or is better at googling then me could get an answer. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/2 "2008-10-03T00:22:46Z")
That idea is from the movie _Knocked Up_, btw. I don’t know the answer but I’m pretty sure that’s where your roommate got the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/3 "2008-10-03T00:30:45Z")
I just want to say that that specific part is the most disgusting part of that movie, and it ruined it for me. It would have been a good movie if it hadn’t resorted to that totally, totally, hideously disgusting scene. With every movie he’s in, Seth Rogen becomes two things - fatter, and more disgusting. In five years or so, I’m willing to bet that he plays Jabba the Hutt in a remake of _Return of the Jedi._ ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/4 "2008-10-03T00:54:13Z")
Now, _Watering_ eyes caused by flatulence…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/5 "2008-10-03T01:12:20Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > My roommate has this crazy idea that you can transfer Pink Eye by a “bare-ass fart on a pillow”. I don’t believe that this is possible and I’ve tried telling him, but he believes the movie he heard it from more then me. Now, I haven’t been able to find a reputable cite that disproves or agrees with this hypothesis, so I would appreciate if someone more knowledgeable or is better at googling then me could get an answer. Viral conjunctivitis (pinkeye) [can indeed be caused by contact with fecal matter](http://www.revoptom.com/handbook/SECT2B.HTM), among other things. I’m pretty sure that it can’t be caused by a farted-on pillow. You’d need direct pillow-to-anus contact. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/6 "2008-10-03T01:57:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Viral conjunctivitis (pinkeye) [can indeed be caused by contact with fecal matter](http://www.revoptom.com/handbook/SECT2B.HTM), among other things. > > I’m pretty sure that it can’t be caused by a farted-on pillow. You’d need direct pillow-to-anus contact. I looked at the site you linked too, and I did not see anything about the virus living in the intestinal tract. The only things I saw about the route of infection is someone already having pink eye, or an upper respiratory tract infection. So, is the virus part of our normal intestinal flora? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/7 "2008-10-03T10:25:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I just want to say that that specific part is the most disgusting part of that movie, and it ruined it for me. It would have been a good movie if it hadn’t resorted to that totally, totally, hideously disgusting scene. Really? I’m not a big fan of fart humor and wouldn’t say that it was a fart joke, as much as a joke about the sort of immature idiots who would fart on each others pillows _as_ a joke. And it led to a really great joke later with the lap dancer - “Now _that’s_ how you get pink-eye!” ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/8 "2008-10-03T10:29:01Z")
Different strokes, I guess. I can handle the most over the top SEX humor out there, but have always been really turned off by gross-out stuff involving piss, shit and farts. I wish that stuff didn’t even exist at all in real life, so I really don’t want to see jokes about it in movies. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/9 "2008-10-03T10:30:03Z")
I hesitate to ask how this is an issue, even. Are you and your roommate in the practice of bare-ass farting on each other’s pillows? ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/10 "2008-10-03T10:35:39Z")
I pretty sure that’s how you get [_stink eye_](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stink+eye). ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/11 "2008-10-03T15:13:39Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > I hesitate to ask how this is an issue, even. Are you and your roommate in the practice of bare-ass farting on each other’s pillows? Really! If you have bare assed people farting on your pillow, pink eye is the least of your concerns. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/12 "2008-10-03T19:51:05Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I just want to say that that specific part is the most disgusting part of that movie, and it ruined it for me. It would have been a good movie if it hadn’t resorted to that totally, totally, hideously disgusting scene. With every movie he’s in, Seth Rogen becomes two things - fatter, and more disgusting. In five years or so, I’m willing to bet that he plays Jabba the Hutt in a remake of _Return of the Jedi._ He’s supposedly slimming down and getting into shape to play “The Green Hornet.” ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/13 "2008-10-03T23:54:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Viral conjunctivitis (pinkeye) [can indeed be caused by contact with fecal matter](http://www.revoptom.com/handbook/SECT2B.HTM), among other things. > > I’m pretty sure that it can’t be caused by a farted-on pillow. You’d need direct pillow-to-anus contact. I believe the OP specified that it had to be a bare-assed fart, which to me implies PTAC. I can’t picture someone going to the trouble of dropping trou, squatting down and then not making full contact. In fact, it seems more likely the person would sort of grind it home, if you know what I mean. Skidmarks might even ensue, though that could be a giveaway. Sorry, **Argent Towers** 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/14 "2008-10-04T00:16:03Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > I looked at the site you linked too, and I did not see anything about the virus living in the intestinal tract. The only things I saw about the route of infection is someone already having pink eye, or an upper respiratory tract infection. So, is the virus part of our normal intestinal flora? That part I don’t know. AFAIK, our normal complement of intestinal flora are all bacteria. I don’t think there are any beneficial viruses, although there are probably many benign ones. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/15 "2008-10-04T00:51:15Z")
Adenovirus and enterovirus, both of which cause pinkeye, replicate in the gut and can be spread by fecal-oral or fecal-mucus-membrane routes. However, they are not part of the normal gut flora. Adenovirus causes more GI symptoms than enteroviruses, which tend to cause symptoms in other systems like the heart or brain. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/16 "2008-10-04T00:51:36Z")
Stay the hell away from Intestinal Flora. That chyk is _baaaaad_ news. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/17 "2008-10-04T02:42:58Z")
What if it was a zombie that did the farting huh? What then smart guy? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/18 "2008-10-04T02:44:27Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > What if it was a zombie that did the farting huh? What then smart guy? Zombies are allergic to pillows, silly. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-eye-transfered-by-flatulence/466251/19 "2008-10-04T06:41:39Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I believe the OP specified that it had to be a bare-assed fart, which to me implies PTAC. You know, of the many phrases that need handy abbreviations, I wouldn’t have guessed ‘pillow to anus contact’ to be on the list. Learn new things every day.