A new study suggests that the average computer keyboard can host dozens of species of harmful bacteria; even potentially life-threatening bacteria such as E. Coli and Staph can live quite happily in an average computer keyboard, according to a new UK study.
ABC news is reporting that a recent consumer advocacy group study in England revealed that the average office keyboard had bacteria and germ levels up to five times higher than commonly found on a toilet seat. The study, headed up by Dr. James Francis, a British microbiologist, took culture samples from 33 office keyboards in London, and compared these samples to swabs taken from toilet seats in the same office buildings. The results were, frankly, a bit scary.
On average, Francis found that the samples taken from office computer keyboards contained more bacteria and germs than the toilet seats. Of the 33 keyboards tested, four were classified as potential health hazards. The study is being taken seriously in both the UK and the US, and gives a whole new meaning to the concept of a “computer virus.”
In January of this year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a viral outbreak at a Washington, DC school last year was likely spread by students using shared computer equipment. Overall, over 100 students were made ill by the “norovirus” outbreak, which is similar in symptoms and appearance to the stomach flu.
The outbreak in DC was the first known report of a viral infection spreading by means of computer keyboard and mouse equipment, and has shed light on the importance of routinely disinfecting shared computer equipment, especially in school environments.
But critics say the problem is being blown out of proportion. More than 100 million people in the United States use a computer keyboard on a daily basis; it is little surprise that bacteria sometimes find a breeding ground between the keys. But is this a real threat to the general population?
Critics like Dr. Aaron Glatt, of New Island Hospital in New York contend that computer keyboards are not likely to be a serious threat to the public, even in shared computer situations such as libraries or universities. When one considers the number of computer keyboards in use in American offices on a daily basis, and the relatively minuscule number of viral outbreaks, it seems unreasonable to blame keyboards for contamination any more than one would blame doorknobs or currency.
Most experts admit that there have not been enough significant or large-scale research studies on computer keyboard contamination to come to a clear consensus, but it is obviously something the medical community and public health officials are looking into. When it comes to viral outbreaks — better safe than sorry.
[...] Needless to say, computer keyboards could come and go; and if you are exceptionally sloppy with yours, it is best to let the keyboards go, especially if it has served its time. If you have been fiddling mindlessly with your keyboard, removing the screws at the back and actually taking a peek into what has accumulated between the gaps, you just may have to stomach something not worth seeing before any meal. If dust bunnies have not yet mutated into the inner workings of your keyboard, you just may be surprised as to what else you might find in there: like food bits, animal hair, termites, enough DNA sampler to get you into the most wanted database… [...]
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