Ewww! Don't touch that mouse!
Computer mouses found in cyber cafes have been ranked as the second most bacteria-infested items in a list of commonly touched objects.
The survey, carried out by the Korea Consumer Protection Board, found shopping cart handles to be the worst of the worst. Typically, they contain an average of 1100 colony forming units (CFU) of bacteria per 10 sq cm.
The computer mouses, were found to have an average of 690 CFU - more than twice the concentration found on doorknobs and handles in public toilets.
The detected bugs include all kinds of bacteria including pathogenic ones.
The Korea Consumer Protection Board released the report this week after conducting an examination about bacteria contamination on 120 items at public facilities which people commonly touch with their hands in Seoul and nearby cities.
According to the Korea Times newspaper, the board examined 20 hand straps on trains, 20 hand straps on buses, 20 toilet doorknobs at four department stores, 20 lift buttons at four department stores, 20 handles of shopping carts at four discount stores, and 20 mouses at four internet cafes.
A board spokeswoman said that the best way to stop the spread of infectious diseases by hand contact was to wash your hands with soap.
Quoting statistics, the spokeswoman said that while more than 77 per cent of people were aware of the importance of washing hands, only 47.9 per cent actually bothered to wash them.
The Dirty Half Dozen:
> 1. Shopping cart handles - 1100 CFU per 10 sq cm
> 2. Internet café computer mouse - 690
> 3. Bus hand straps - 380
> 4. Public toilet handles and door knobs - 340.
> 5. Lift buttons at 130
> 6. Train hand straps - 86
• Source: The Age Newspaper February 15, 2006
Keyboards, phones 'dirtier than toilets'
Keyboards, computer mice and telephone dials are more infested with microbes than toilet seats, according to United States researchers.
The University of Arizona study recommends that office workstations be regularly disinfected since they can on average contain 400 times as many germs as a toilet seat.
The study by Charles Gerba, a University of Arizona microbiologist, found that telephones harboured up to 3,894 germs per square centimetre, keyboards 511 and computer mice 260.
The average office contains 3,249 germs per square centimetre.
"Desks are really bacteria cafeterias," he said.
"They are breakfast bars, lunch tables and everything else, as we spend more hours at the office.
"When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug, the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours - an office can become an incubator."
US health officials last month warned about the dissemination of germs during the flu season.
Officials reminded Americans to cover their nose and mouth while sneezing, wash their hands regularly and use disinfectant swabs to clean their office desks.
• Source: AFP - March 12, 2004
| 
