The words ‘Superbugs’ and ‘Keyboards’ in the same sentence? An interesting health report on the news this week caught my attention regarding a recent study that identified the dangers of keyboards.

According to the study, keyboards are easily contaminated with germs. Seeing all the tiny food particles and crumbs in mine, I can certainly believe it. However, this is not where the problem is.

Imagine how many people in a single day can touch a single keyboard. We carry germs on our hands and these germs can live between, under, and on the keys on a keyboard for up to 24 hours. With so many hospitals turning to technology, this poses a serious problem.

According to the study, the germs that reside on keyboards can take the form of antibiotic-resistant germs. These germs on the keyboard can then contaminate the hands of nurses and doctors who in turn go on to treat patients, who are the ones at real risk.

If keyboards could be easily cleaned, this would not pose such a problem. However, it is unlikely that a keyboard could survive being soaked in bleach. It has also been noted that a Canadian hospital was forced to discard of all their keyboards after an outbreak of VRE because they could not be cleaned.

How does the study recommend battling this problem? By washing your hands after you use a keyboard. I don’t plan on washing my hands each time I use my own keyboard. Although next time I use a shared or public keyboard, I’ll definitely think about using some soap and water afterwards.