Computer Keyboards Spread More Than Words {Staphylococcus}

[RedEarth]

MONDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- Harmful bacteria can linger on computer keyboards in hospitals, making it easy for the germs to spread to patients, a new study finds.

To combat the problem, a research team led by Dr. Gary Noskin, medical director for healthcare epidemiology and quality at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, suggests that those using multi-user computers should wash their hands after each use. In addition, computer keyboards should be disinfected regularly.

Another expert, Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center and author of The Secret Life of Germs, goes even further and advises that computer keyboards in schools and libraries should be disinfected often to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria.

Computer use in hospitals and other health-care facilities is multiplying rapidly, Noskin said. "We wanted to determine whether keyboards could be a reservoir for the transmission of bacteria that people are afraid of in hospitals," he added.

In the study, Noskin's group looked at three bacteria commonly found in hospitals: vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), methicillin-resistant { aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSAE).

VRE and MRSA are bacteria that have developed a resistance to antibiotics, such as vancomycin and methicillin, which are commonly used to treat bacterial infections.

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/04/11/hscout525006.html

[leftofcool]

1. Duh, how about some LYSOL!!!!!!!!!.....eom

[Occulus]

2. Personal keyboard covers could help prevent this...

I wonder if they've thought of that as part of their solution.

[sui generis]

3. I know at work I hate letting anyone touch my

keyboard or use my stapler / desk equipment.

People are gross - they actually wash their hands (some of them) after taking a dump down the hall, then come into the office, and blow their nose and use the hankie to wipe the overblow off their hands. I sit across from a guy who has a desk fan on behind him, and who just got over strep throat. I don't have a chance -

I keep a box of Clorox disinfecting wipes at my desk plus hand sanitizer and have just gotten in the habit of using it all regularly so that I won't get office ebola from these other people who should be at home or in the hospice.

[rocktivity]

4. I keep a sheet of plastic over my keyboard at home

but mainly because DU has me spitting on it so much!

:spray:
rocknation

[sharonking21]

5. During flu and cold season

my boss, a physician working in a bureaucratic rabbit warren, opened all doors with her elbows. Or with a paper towel, if she had to grasp a doorknob. I tried to remember to do so, but also conconcted the practice of going and washing my hands thoroughly at least once an hour. I wonder just how you can disinfect a keyboard without ruining it?

[Trillo]

8. Keep the keyboard upside down, gravity keeps the disinfectant from

dripping into the mechanism. I use a spray bottle and get it 'dripping' wet, then let it sit upside down on a towel for a period of disinfect time.

[wicket]

11. alcohol wipes work great for me!

The receptionists use them on the phones too.

[queeg]

6. mine's got a booger on it

[KittyWampus]

7. And Pink Eye

[Wilms]

9. Oh, no! Another computer virus. n/t

:scared:

[phylny]

13. Cracked me up :) n/t

[wicket]

10. I keep a box of alcohol wipes next to my computer at work

And wipe down every so often since a lot of people use my computer.

[Oreo]

12. One word.... Purell

I'm in IT and decided to buy a big thing of Purell (instant hand sanitizer) at the end of last year. I don't think I got sick at all over the winter while everybody around me did.

[phylny]

14. I do Early Intervention and I am in and out of babies' and toddlers'

houses between 6-9 times a day. Of course, they're drooly, sneeze all over me, cough on me, have their hands in their noses and mouths and then they touch me and my hands. I am required to wash/disinfect my hands before I begin working with the child, and once I get to my car after a session, I use disinfecting wipes to "wash" my hands.

This past winter, the only thing I got was a very mild cold that lasted about three days.

[Dave Reynolds]

15. I guess I'll have to stop

eating the toast crumbs out of mine...:P

[slackmaster]

16. I am the Clean Keyboard Nazi at work

I clean the ones that get used by multiple people about once a week. That's how quickly they get too disgusting for me to want to touch them.