Keyboards are Havens for Super Bugs

Techguy666 writes "Gee, this is a suprise. Researchers have found that keyboards harbor bacteria and super-germs. This is particularly interesting this time because this research noted that there is a lot of computer use in hospitals and they're finding it really difficult to sterilize them."

Comments

Plastic cover

[kdark1701]

They could put a plastic cover over the keyboard, with molds for each of hte keys, and spray/wipe that plastic cover with bleach every now and then.

That is NOT what they found!

[BrakesForElves]

By saying "keyboards harbor bacteria and super-germs" in the present tense, "harbor" means that keyboards right now contain super-germs. That is a crock, and a gross mis-characterization of what the study found. In the study, they _innoculated_ keyboards with "super germs", then found how long the germs could live. So the headline ought to read more like "bacteria and super-germs can survive on keyboards for 24 hours or more". Rob---

Nice work, Gary

[TripMaster Monkey]

Quotes from the article:

"The difficulty with keyboards is you can't pour bleach on them," Dr. Allison McGeer, an infection control specialist from Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, tells The Canadian Press. "They don't work so well when you do that.''

"Keyboards will never be completely sterile," Noskin advises. "There are always going to be bugs there."

This is the most ridiculous piece of non-news I've seen in a while. This so-called 'researcher', Dr. Gary Noskins, needs to research Google for some sealed keyboards.

These keyboards have been in use for quite a while...durable, washable, and yes, they can be sterilized.
Links here and here just for starters.

Mabye I should mail Dr.Noskin my findings...mabye I can publish a study of my own.

Re:Nice work, Gary

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Spillproof keyboards are $20-$30 - you could pour Lysol over them without doing damage. And flexible silicone keyboards are the same - I don't know how washable they are but I'd guess 'very'.

Re:Nice work, Gary

[pclminion]

These keyboards have been in use for quite a while...durable, washable, and yes, they can be sterilized.

I'm going to nitpick here, because I'm a homebrewer and thus I deal with sanitation on a regular basis.

A sealed keyboard cannot be sterilized unless you autoclave it. It can be sanitized, which means removing something like 99.999% of microorganisms, but it is not sterile in the sense that there is no remaining life whatsoever. No chemical agent can kill 100% of microorganisms (maybe sulfuric or hydrochloric acid at nearly 100%, but only after a long exposure period, and it would eat away the material you were trying to sterilize). Only heat (and radiation) can truly sterilize.

Now, if these keyboards you speak of can survive autoclaving temperatures, then by all means, go for it (if you have a large enough autoclave).

Many people casually confuse sanitation and sterilization, but they aren't strictly the same thing.

Plastic has this problem...

[ites]

Nice surface for bugs, grease and moisture hangs around for ages.

Wood is what you need. Dries out the bugs in no time at all.

I've seen wooden keyboards but they are horrendously expensive. Sigh.

The motto is: don't share your keyboard, and when you go to a cybercafe, wash your hands afterwards, and don't pick your nose.

Study...

[Virtual Karma]

Here is what one study has to say :

According to the study, from researchers at the University of Arizona, phones have up to 25,127 germs per square inch, keyboards 3,295 per square inch and computer mice 1,676 per square inch.

source here

Or, use a virtual keyboard...

[ites]

Project this onto an untreated wooden surface, you have zero bugs and nothing to clean:

http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=118539

Re:Or, use a virtual keyboard...

[toomanyhandles]

> Bugs cant survive on wood?

Actually, they don't survive that well.

There were a few studies done a while ago, looking at cutting boards (in the kitchen).

Those nice clean-looking plastic cutting boards- grow bacteria super well.

Those wood ones, that you would think be full of trapped food etc. in the grain- bacteria just sort of disappear from them over time, IIRC. Speculation that the bugs got "popped" by the pointy wood fibers or similar effect was made, but I don't think it's been totally determined. These weren't cedar boards or anything that would be toxic.

This finding has repeated well, and I read about it every few years in some of those close-to-turkey-day home-health-type announcements.

HTH.

A solution

[AviLazar]

Man I should be a high priced consultant.

Here is a what a quick Froogle search came up with.

Keyboard Condom

not hard to sterilize a keyboard.

[Lumpy]

we did it all the time in the microbiology lab.

we had "water resistant" keyboards so simply slipping one in a large ziplock and then ploping it in the autoclave would do the trick in 60 minutes.

Some brands did not survive the 250 degrees temperature peak and hold, but others did, and the slow pressure increase with the sudden pressure drop kills ANY bug. I dont care how "super" the pathogen is, an autoclave will kill it.

funny part is that keyboards do not last past 5 runs in the device. something about all that heat does bad things to the plastic. but Cherry keyboards were able to survive at least 3 runs.

and yes, we tested it. No bugs after wiping with a sterile swab and trying to incubate it for 48 hours.

Warts

[Malc]

At my first job there seemed to be an unusually large number of people with warts (and lots of them) on their hands. At least five people in a company of less than 25. Surprise surprise: I started getting warts on my hands within 18 months. Warts are of course caused by a virus.

I ended up with about 30 of them. It took more than a year of nasty chemicals and liquid N2 treatment by a dermitologist before my immune system finally kicked and the warts went away. He seemed to think that they were particularly virulent and hardy. I strongly suspect I was infected from keyboards. They have to be the dirtiest nastiest things in an office. I'm glad I work from home these days and only sit down at other people's computers via RDP/VNC/pcAnywhere/WebEx.

Malc

You can wash almost any keyboard in the dishwasher

[Mustang Matt]

Don't use any soap or detergent and make sure it's *completely* dry before plugging it back in.

Tie the cord up so that it doesn't get caught in any moving parts.

I'm not sure about this

[commodoresloat]

According to this page, the science is a little more confused than you portray it. Apparently bacteria go under the surface of wood and stay dormant, whereas on plastic they can't get below the surface. This means for plastic what bacteria are there are ready to attack the next item you chop, but they are also easier to clean off. Until, of course, you have scratched up the surface of your cutting board with a knife, giving them more surfaces to hide, harder to clean, etc. The studies for wood vs. plastic seem to have gone both ways. But the main lesson is, of course, keep your cutting surface clean, especially if you handle raw meat of any kind. Wash with soapy water ASAP after use, and then disinfect it with a tablespoon full of white vinegar (or use some nasty chemical if you prefer). Better also is to use different boards for "high risk" products and to buy new ones when the old ones wear out. But remember, if you don't clean it, it's not going to matter whether you use wood or plastic!

</heloise>

Re:Wiped out by a virulent disease from unsanitary

[gregmac]

Jokes aside, one of my friends had a bucket of water poured onto his Dell laptop last summer (the result of a badly-aimed pratical joke). We thought it was totally screwed, so wiped it down and basically took everything that was semi-user-servicable out (battery, drive bays, pc cards, memory). After it sat for a few hours and dryed up, it was able to boot and has been working normally since.

It should be noted that it's not the water that kills devices, it's the water shorting out contacts that kills it. As long as you don't try to run it while it's on, it should survive. His was actually on when it happened, and turned off immediately, so I guess that part was just luck that it didn't fry anything.

Re:Wiped out by a virulent disease from unsanitary

[RaZ0r]

It should be noted that it's not the water that kills devices, it's the water shorting out contacts that kills it.

This is not so true. I am a laptop repair technician and have had to service numerous spilled-on laptops.

Normally what seems to leave a laptop in a non-functioning state is the corrision of surface-mount components on the system board.

Also, water can not short out electrical devices. IIRC pure water itself does not conduct electricity. It is the impurities in the water that cause it to.