The Middle East and “portable bidets” otherwise known as bathroom hoses How clean are we really kept when using this regularly?

After spending a couple of months in Jordan this summer, it was not a great surprise to me anymore to see the usual bathroom hose throughout Muscat, another Middle Eastern country.  Although, it was a pretty strange surprise when I first saw them everywhere in Jordan.  Now that I’m fairly used to seeing these hoses around, I still cannot accept that they somehow make us “cleaner” like everyone seems to be saying around here.  

I feel like this hose has too close of access to everyone who uses the restroom’s personal areas.  The water seems like it could splash back onto the hose head and that just grosses me out.  But, Arabs seem to swear by the method of cleansing after restroom use and prefer it over using any type of tissue.  My host family’s home didn’t even have any toilet paper in it.  This is a household of 12 people plus myself and no one except me uses toilet paper in the restroom.  Arabs do not enjoy using toilet paper it seems in this region of the world (perhaps more westernized Arabs enjoy this method however) and I want to understand why.  To the western world, using a hose to water your personal area down after restroom use and then not drying with anything makes me cringe.  I want to be able to be dry when I leave the room.  Especially in such a humid and extremely hot climate, I worry that the moisture is too much if you do not dry yourself off afterwards.  So why is it that so many Arabs have been and continue to swear by this method?

Also, do more infections “down there”  occur in this region of the world that uses hoses or are the tissue paper-lovers of The West more affected by unwanted problems in that area?

I looked up whether or not you could catch an infectious disease from a bathroom hose to back up my theory that the water could splash back and it just seems so unsanitary to use these hoses that everyone may use.  Thestraightdope.com came up with an article that explains what disease (or lack thereof) can be caught from a toilet seat.  Growing up in California where toilet seat covers were and are a girl’s best friend in a public toilet, I was surprised to learn that the toilet seat really cannot transfer any diseases to you unless you use it terribly wrongly and not with the intented use.  The seat covers I guess are a way to feel cleaner.  (I still really appreciate them as it is especially gross when someone leaves the seat wet from urine and then I have to go and not sit down while I use the bathroom because there is no seat cover).  

Although using a public toilet is mostly harmless in giving an STD to you, one can still become pretty ill from using a toilet and about 80,000 people actually die a year from germs caught from public restrooms.  So, I found a website that gives tips and interesting facts about using a public restroom that may prove helpful.  

http://www.nutritionlessons.com/health-tips-when-using-public-restrooms.php