Keyboard is like a Toilet

[Pomai]

Reuters...

A study by British consumer magazine "Which? Computing" asked a microbiologist to examine 33 keyboards in a typical London office, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle, for bugs generally found in unhygienic places.

Four keyboards were judged potential health hazards and the microbiologist recommended the removal of one keyboard as it had 150 times the pass limit of bacteria -- five times filthier than the swabbed toilet seat.

Imagine other public buttons you press, like on a telephone, elevator or ATM.

[tutusue]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

[...]Imagine other public buttons you press, like on a telephone, elevator or ATM.

For years I've used my knuckle for all those buttons you mention! While not a button, shopping cart handles are also loaded with germs! The only time I use Purell is when I finish grocery shopping. Still, we need a few germies in our lives to help build our resistance.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

The real question is, are they making you sick? I don't think so.

This is like that microbiologist who regularly publishes about how many bacteria there are on your toothbrush. Yes, there are bacteria everywhere. So what? That's what the human immune system is supposed to be for -- to protect you against infection. Give your body some credit.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

You can't wear a surgical mask because it looks like you're the infected person. At least people will give you space because they don't know what you might have.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

The real question is, are they making you sick? I don't think so.

Not only are most germs relatively harmless, their presence can prevent nastier germs from establishing an invasion beachhead on our bodies!

Marketing departments want to scare us into thinking it's an Us vs. Them conflict, as if They were united against Us under a banner global germ dominance. Luckily, like humans, germs war against each other too.

The Native Germs just want to farm our skin, raise a family, and earn a honest day's pay for a honest day's job. They have learned to live in balance with their environment, us.

Then you have the Global Capitalist Skin-Oil Guzzling Germs (GCSOGG). In their zest to increase shareholder value, they'll drill deep into our hair folicles and poison us, the very host they depend on. They have no respect for anyone; not even their germ cousins.

You think the Native Germs are gonna let the GCSOGG dis them in their own hood? Hellz no! They're gonna excrete natural antibiotics which act like reverse-Viagra. They'll raise our skin's pH just a tad so the GCSOGG's get so itchy, they'll spend all their money on exotic spa treatments.

Trust me. The Native Germs know how to defend their turf. They multiply every half hour. By the time you're 18, that's over 300,000 generations of Native Germs protecting your body with battlefield tested strategies passed down from parent to clone.

But oh no, some primate decided to grow a brain. Let's pass some Anti-Bacterial (AB) legislation in the interest of Homeland Security. For the sake of our children, no germs can be tolerated on our skin!

So we lather on the AB soap with reckless abandon. Generations of Native Germs handi-wiped away from their ancestral land. All that cultural wisdom lost.

A barren, sterile landscape is the price we pay for a temporary sense of security...

As smart as we think we are, our AB soap isn't good enough to kill ALL germs. There will always be pockets of resistance. If we're unlucky, some of those insurgent germs will be GCSOGG, except this time there won't be any Native Germs to keep them in check.

So the next time you're tempted to grab for that AB marketed product, you might want to think twice. Don't hurt your Native Germ; nurture it. Yeah, maybe it gives you stink BO, but life's all about love and compromise, baby.


Regards,
MJ

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

At the Home Depot, I come across a lot of customers and shake a lot of hands, not to mention each department shares one Voip phone amongst department associates. It is for that reason I carry some hand sanitizer in a pensized spray applicator. I used to get sick almost every other week until I started carrying and using after each encounter and use of the phone when handed over to me from a fellow associate.

The cashiers have the industrial sized bottles of the stuff at their registers as they handle a lot of cash.

[acousticlady]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

The real question is, are they making you sick? I don't think so.

This is like that microbiologist who regularly publishes about how many bacteria there are on your toothbrush. Yes, there are bacteria everywhere. So what? That's what the human immune system is supposed to be for -- to protect you against infection. Give your body some credit.

I agree with this 100%. I believe the use of these AB are causing more harm than good in the long run. Too many people are getting colds, sinus problems, whatever much too frequently. The body needs the "good" germs to build the immune system.

Here's a story where I have no idea whether or not there is any scientific merit to it. I had a group of theater majors this semester in my Light & Color course. They were all so afraid of touching the equipment or keyboard for fear of getting germs that they passed around a bottle of Purell before doing the experiment. Well, suffice it to say that they ALL came done with some nasty disease and for two weeks I had to deal with this one being absent, that one giving excuses due to illness, etc. Of course, I have no idea if there was a direct relation here, but.... I didn't get sick and neither did the few in the class who didn't go near the Purell.

Myopicjoe - I loved your take on this .

[Pomai]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

The body needs the "good" germs to build the immune system.

Kinda' like going to a foreign country and drinking their water. If you're not a native, you don't have those "good" germs to counter it.

I'm not an epidemiologist, but I can say, I, like many (probably all) of us, have ingested many a "normally" bad bacteria, either from restaurant food, or indirectly, from a computer keyboard, phone, elevator, or ATM. Thankfully, my body's immune system is working as it should.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

Myopicjoe - I loved your take on this .

Your vote of confidence has encouraged me to submit my post to the Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection for peer review. When I win the Nobel prize, I shall thank you during my acceptance speech. Wish me luck!

[tutusue]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

Not only are most germs relatively harmless, their presence can prevent nastier germs from establishing an invasion beachhead on our bodies![...]

This is the post of the day...even tho' the day's still young!

[Konaguy]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

I just buy a new keyboard when it gets nasty

[i-hungry]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

I haven't found drops of piss on the keyboard, yet.

[zff]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

Just make sure your computer is protected by good anti-virus software.

[cynsaligia]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

my best advice to avoid infections from things like dirty keyboards is:

1. wash your hands frequently. before you eat, after you eat, whenever your hands feel dirty. some folks wash their hands before using the bathroom but definitely wash after you use the bathroom. it doesn't have to be antibacterial soap unless you just handled something like raw chicken or were in contact with someone who is sick. and when you wash, wash all the surfaces of your hands. make sure not to forget to wash the back side of your dominant hand, because the natural action you use to wash often neglects that part (wash your hands right now--you'll see what i mean). also, wash for at least as long as it takes to say the pledge of allegiance in your head. shake most of the water off of your hands and then wipe. if you're in a questionable or public bathroom, shake off the water, and try not to use your hand to dispense paper towels. wipe your hands and then use the towel to turn off the water. try to do that part quickly--don't want you to waste water either!

2. if you need to wash but can't wash, yes, use alcohol hand gels. however, you should use enough so that you're rubbing the liquid into your skin for ten seconds or so in order for them to be dry.

3. i use my elbows to press elevator buttons. i use my credit or debit card to press buttons at atms.

4. be considerate of others: when possible, do not go to work sick. do not send your child to school sick.

5. if you sneeze or cough, do so into the crook of your elbow or into a part of your sleeve that no one will touch. do not sneeze or cough into your hand. (wash your hands after blowing your nose into tissues!)

6. keep your cuts & wounds clean and protected.

7. get enough sleep. according to an infection control nurse i know, insomniacs are more likely to get sick than those who get the sleep they need bcs you need a certain amount of sleep to boost immunity. not enough sleep = immunity depletion.

i agree that anti-bacterial everything is bad bcs using such products all the time makes us more sensitive to the run of the mill stuff while also creating antibiotic resistant strains (like MRSA or c. diff). otherwise, our skin and our immune systems should be sufficient (if we're eating healthily, getting enough rest, etc) to fight off or prevent the vast majority of bugs you'll find on shopping cart handles, puter keyboards, doorknobs, etc. from getting into our systems. just don't do anything like touch a slimy doorknob and then touch your eye. der!

**of course, different rules apply if you are immuno-compromised.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: Keyboard is like a Toilet

For the record I have no problems with the use of anti-bacterial products. I was mostly poking fun at them for a good laugh People should practice good hygiene, because there's a difference between exercising your immune system and overwhelming it. Just don't get caught up in the marketing paranoia.