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Fri 28 Mar, 2003 03:25 pm
Here's an interesting article on "What's On Your Keyboard." Be advised. c.i.
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Gross! Look What's On Your Keyboard
By Cathryn Conroy, Netscape News Editor
There is no nice way to put this. Your
keyboard could be loaded with
staphylococcus bacteria that has the
potential to make you sick, reports
TechTV. Curious as to what could be
lurking on one of their own keyboards,
the staff at TechTV packed up a
particularly well-used sample and sent it
to the University of California, Berkeley
School of Public Health for analysis. This
keyboard was at a workstation shared
by many people, some of whom ate their
lunch while working on it. It was also
near an office bathroom.
Microbiologist Fenyong Liu took
samples from the space bar and keys.
The good news: Whatever is hiding
down in the cracks between the keys
won't hurt you, although it might affect
how well your keyboard works. The
problems are in the visible areas,
basically anywhere your fingers touch.
TechTV reporter Becky Worley says the
keyboard was loaded with gram-positive
bacteria, which can include
staphylococcus, the organism behind
"staph" infections and strep throat. "The
keyboard is not clean," Liu told TechTV.
"So you are working, and then you touch
your nose and maybe inoculate yourself
with the bacteria that causes respiratory
infection. Or maybe you bite your nails
or drink coffee at the same time so that
you ingest the bacteria, which potentially
can cause a problem."
What can you do? Clean your keyboard!
First, unplug it. To get the crumbs out,
turn it over and shake it. Then clean your
keyboard, desk, phone, and computer
mouse with anti-bacterial wipes or
alcohol wipes. (TechTV warns that
frequent use of alcohol-based cleaning
products can remove the black lettering
from the keys.) And make sure you wash
your hands frequently.
i try to keep mine isolated around the "esc" key
Did you know that the seat of a public toilet was found to have less bacteria than a computer keyboard?
What about spraying a paper towel with a germicidal spray like Lysol, and rubbing it on the keys? Would that take off the printing?
Phoenix, I'm not sure. Why don't you try, and let us know.
c.i.
OK - this is one of my pet peeves - rant alert!
While a multiple-user keyboard near a loo might be a good candidate for disinfection - I say MIGHT - we are surrounded by germs all the time. We co-evolved with the smeggers! We seem to NEED them to set our immune systems - (a quite well-supported theory for the increase in asthma in the west is that we keep our babies in a TOO-sterile environment, and their immune systems develop abnormally) - we need them to continue to be strong!
All this puritanical wiping and smearing and disinfective this and that has the potential to breed resistant little buggers, like the antibiotics have. Do we WANT germs we cannot kill with disinfectant when we need to? Do we WANT namby-pamby gutless immune systems that can't swat the germ equivalent of a fly?
rant over...we resume normal transmission...zzzzzzzt.
You guys are craking me up!! Who needs letters on keyboards anyway?? hmm maybe on second thought...... maybe I'd spell better if I could find the right keys.
I am not a germ freak, but often someone with a cold will extend his hand to shake mine. I will shake the hand, and then excuse myself, go to the restroom, and wash my hands.
in support of the wabbit, last year a study was done showing the overuse of antibacterial soaps in homes acutally increased risk for young children to microbial infections.
dyslexia- I have read those stories too, and I do agree, to an extent. It is true though, that cold germs can be spread through hands. If I knew that someone who was sharing a computer with me had a blowy, sneezy cold, I might clean the keyboard off. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother!
Phoenix32890 wrote:I am not a germ freak, but often someone with a cold will extend his hand to shake mine. I will shake the hand, and then excuse myself, go to the restroom, and wash my hands.
Phoenix - I totally agree with that! Getting a huge, wriggling fresh load of cold germs may well break down your defences. Washing your hands with ORDINARY soap and water is a wonderful antidote - my point- and it is a serious one - is against all this new ninsense of "anti-bacterial" this and that, and throwing a hissy-fit whenever the real world is touched.
I was miffed yesterday when a mum came in for an appointment dripping and oozing with 'flu and sat in my office for over an hour, breathing on me and dropletting my room with her beastly cargo - THAT I consider beyond the pale!
dlowan- Years and years ago, I read an article. The gist of it was that in days gone by, people used one kind of soap for everything- Washing, scrubbing floors, cleaning clothes, washing hair, etc. Probably they used brown soap. There was not much of a choice.
As labor saving devices proliferated, and the time that it took to perform household work lessened, the advertisers had to give housewives a raison d'etre. So manufacturers began to expand the choices of cleaning products, so that women would have to make decisions each time they shopped. (Doesn't this sound like the 1950's? That is probably when I read this).
I think that this sort of thinking has continued into the 21st century. If you look at the myriad of products that are made for household use, you begin to realize that most are NOT necessary.
Why do we need 6 different types of shampoos (in one brand)? Why do we need soap that is supposed to do everything short of a facelift? I think that the antibacterial soap craze is simply another manifestation of this tendency. I don't seriously think that surgeons would scrub up with antibacterial Dial.
I was once in a sterile room in a hospital. I had to use Hibiclens, which is a product which is not likely to grace supermarket shelves. Now THAT was antibacterial soap!
A question just popped into my grey matter: How long can germ survive on a dry surface? Any biologists out there?
c.i.
Phoenix, That is scary! Didn't realize germ can survive for so long on fabric and plastic. Also FYI, I read an article some time ago that the tables we use on airplanes are full of germs. I always bring those sanitizing wipes to wipe off the table when I first take my seat. Evidently, the airlines never clean those, and they are full of germs. I'm now convinced that public use computer boards at internet cafes and airplane tables must be cleaned before use, and/or to wash your hands frequently with soap and water. c.i.
I have taught public classes in use of the computer and the Internet at public libraries and also taught my students in a maximum security prison. In both situations I felt equally 'icky' about the spread of disease and illness! When I've asked librarians about the issue of health and keyboards, there is just a blank look on their faces. I now have my own spray safe for keyboards for such times.
In the prison, one thing that seemed to help one day was a lesson in "reading". The feature article I selected was about proper handwashing - after we took turns reading it aloud we all went out to the hallway to practice "proper handwashing" together in the closest lavatory. What an eye-opener for everyone! All agreed that none of us washed hands properly and from then on, that was one group of particularly 'clean' folks, lol!
I friend of mine has a doctorate in Microbiology.
My wife a bit shocked when he picked up a fallen pacifier from the ground with barely a wipe.
But, he explained jokingly what he says is a common occurance for microbiology students.
When one studies bacteria, you spend about two weeks cleaning everything neurotically when you realize how many nasty organisms you come in contact with every day.
But then after a couple of weeks you realize again that the world is not such a bad place, that your immune system does a pretty darn good job most of the time, and that there isn't much you can do about it anyway.
Cleaning your keyboard does not do anything (except perhaps psychologically). Just take a day to think about how many public surfaces you touch during the course of every day.
If you worry about it, you will just drive yourself crazy.
But eb - wouldn't you think that discretion would suggest that one consciously avoid the most risky of hygiene conditions? For instance, I think it is absurd that public bathrooms go to the lengths of having automatic hand dryers, automatic doors to entering, or automatic flushing toilets and yet each visitor gets to grab the same doorknob or door plate/bar to exit?
A waitstaff can go from table to table, an airplane recycles air, the railing to a stairway in a public place - how easy it is to transfer WAY more than an average amount of pesky germs into our shared environment!
The thought of germ entered my mind frequently when I was in London last week and rode on the Underground escalators. hmmmm.... Did wash my hands when I returned to my hotel room. c.i.
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