Superbugs Invade The Keyboard
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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.
4 Comments
Joy
March 28th, 2007
at 10:11pm
i’m on my computer almost 24/7 and if the stains on my keypad (corresponding to key strokes) are any indication of germs residing on it, then i should look no further for the culprit of my recurring colds.
A Life Less Ordinary » Blog Archive » dirty
March 28th, 2007
at 10:23pm
[...] The researchers swabbed the offices of 59 women and 54 men in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. They sampled eight sites in each office: the phone, desktop, computer mouse, computer keyboard, exclamation key on the computer keyboard, pen, bottom of desk drawer, and handle of desk drawer. Those samples showed twice as much bacteria in women’s offices as in men’s. [...]
DJHDD
July 9th, 2007
at 3:32am
I work in IT (desktop support) & I have yet another cold form having to use other peoples keyboards. I can use up to 8 - 10 different keyboards & mouse a day. Apart from wearing gloves, if the germs are on the keyboard & you touch your face before washing your hands, you will be infected. Use someone else phone, you may as well be kissing them.
Users should wipe keyboards with an alcohol wipe otherwise us IT people are going to be extinct. What I’d like is a little torch that you could shine which shows germs.
Stan Kossen
July 21st, 2007
at 11:06am
Regarding the germ-infested keyboard, my dentist gave me a good idea, which I now use. He covers his keyboard with Saran wrap, and changes it every day. I do the same, but I change it about once a week.
I scotch tape the ends of the flimsey plastic to hold it on. Typing feels normal after a short period of adaptation.
My dentist, by the way, is French. I am an American living in the south of France. The French are far removed from the typical stereotype of them.
Stan Kossen
Stan Kossen