[MacGyverOnline]

Think twice before eating those dropped crumbs off your computer keyboard - you might as well be eating off a toilet seat, according to a new study on the amount of germs on keyboards.

Read full story here

[MacsChick]

That doesn't surprise me...I guess I have just one more computer issue to worry about now!

[MacGyverOnline]

*has images of people wearing Bio-Hazard suits while working at their computers*

[SAG]

Really not terribly surprising....and gross.

Partiicularly for those that work at stations that are in use by other employees.

[MacGyverGrrl]

Now I know I'm not sharing my computer with anybody. ANybody wants to 'just check my e-mail' can go use the community computers in the computer training lab.

[Amy]

LOL. Rock you have a knack for finding gems like this.

I do periodically spray mine with Lysol.

[MacGirl]

Iiiick!

I suppose this is more of a worry with keyboards that are shared by multiple users. Still, I use a compressed gas duster every few days to keep dust from building up on my keyboard, and I try not to eat at my computer.

[trtlsoup]

*ewww*

Thanks, Rocky. I just forwarded that article to LOTS of people!

*going for the Lysol to clean my keyboard, like... RIGHT NOW*

[MacBeth]

Sigh. Something to bear in mind: not all germs are created equal. Just counting the bugs doesn't mean anything if you're only tallying numbers. Also, the cliched comparisons with toilet seats is based on skewed data: toilets are cleaned daily with antiseptic chemicals. Very few other things are. The comparison is used because it pushes an emotional button and grosses people out, not because it's a valid comparison.

The article particularly mentions bacteria growth from spoiled food -- which is not the same as the kind of bacteria you're likely to find in the presence of human waste products. It's also different from the bacteria you find inside your own body, much of which is essential to health. Or the bacteria in cheese. Or wine. Etc. etc. etc.

The nastiest thing that can happen with your keyboard and mouse is if someone has a cold and handles your keyboard or mouse -- or phone. But that isn't even bacteria: that's viral contamination. You're at greater risk from doorknobs, handshakes, elevator buttons, stair rails, paperwork, and other objects that many people handle casually in the course of a day.

Admittedly, it's a good idea in general to knock the crumbs out of your keyboard, though -- keyboards can jam, after all!

[MacGyverOnline]

and what happens when someone has been touching the doorknobs, elevator buttons, stair rails and other objects causally in the course of a day and then starts typing on your keyboard?

[MacBeth]

I get to smack them?

More to the point is that very few people get the opportunity to touch my keyboard -- but I touch the same doorknobs, rails, money, etc. as often as anyone else. That's the vector.

And since I'm the IT lead at my firn, I have to touch their keyboards . . . bleaugh. I wash my hands a lot.

[trtlsoup]

Well, no one touches my keyboard... and if my son does, I make him wash his hands... because he's a boy and I'm a mother. But I DO eat over my keyboard frequently. It's crummy...

I think the grossest article was the one about the purses. I don't carry one. I use a backpack, but the same principle. I'm VERY careful where I set it down.

[MacsChick]

Unfortunately, germs are unavoidable. I saw a story on the news about germs in movie theaters. It was disgusting, but you can't shut yourself up in a sealed room the rest of your life.

[MacBeth]

And there's some indication that there are health problems that result from trying to live in an antiseptic environment -- our ability to deal with a normal level of germs can atrophy, much as a muscle can.

[MacGyverOnline]

I actually get quite annoyed with all the hype about germs we get thrown at us these days.

Human beings like all animals have immune systems specifically to fight germs. Our immune system needs to practice it's job to stay in good shape.. that is.. we need to come in contact with germs in order to have a strong healthy fighting immune system.

All anyone needs to do is wash your hands after toileting and before eating or handling food.

Anyone remember when kids use to go outside and play in dirt and germs and hardly ever got sick?

It's interesting to find out where some of the more common congregation points are for germs, but it's really nothing worth worrying about as long as you wash you hands before they go near your mouth or anything you put in your mouth.

[trtlsoup]

I don't take antibiotics as a rule, but when I had my brain surgery, the docs kept me on them for over 3 months, despite my objections.

The antibiotics wiped out all the bacteria (good and bad) in my body. So after spending 3 months in the hospital, I had to go back in (in a sterile environment) for 2 more weeks to build up my immune system.

Germs have an important function. We need them.

My son is so healthy because I didn't drag him to the doctor everytime he had a sniffle, whereas my sister was constantly at the docs with her kids. Now they're antibiotic resistant, and my kid never had problems.

I still don't set my pack on a restroom or store floor, but at home, it's always under my desk, and the only things that live there are dust bunnies.

So, yeah Rocky... I totally agree!