Keyboards Are Disgusting

fredr1k writes " A test carried out by Pegasus Lab on account for Swedish magazine PC För alla showed that a normal PC keyboard was infected by more bacteria than a normal toilet seat. More specific it contained 33000 bacteria per square centimeter, compared to 130 on a ordinary toilet seat. The tests also showed occurrence of up to 3100 fungi per square centimeter." Also note that unless you read Swedish, you still have plausible deniability when asked to windex yours.

Comments

Who cares?

[TomorrowPlusX]

As far as I'm concerned, the *world* is filthy, and millions of years of evolution have allowed us to live healthily ( mostly ) in it. It's part of being alive. And the more we're exposed, the stronger we are for it.

I'm not surprised that keyboards are filthy, but frankly, when I was a kid wandering around in creeks hunting crawfish, climbing trees, etc etc I never got sick, and I (almost) never get sick as an adult.

We *need* this exposure. I'm worried for children growing up in sterilized environments today.

Re:Keep it clean will ya

[alicenextdoor]

That's what your immune system is for! Seriously, have you ever heard of anyone getting sick from a keyboard? There's a really scary tendancy these days to think that all bacteria are evil, and if one ever comes near you you'll die horribly. In fact, there are more baacterial cells in and on the human body than there are human ones. Everything you touch is covered in bacteria. Most of them are harmless, some are beneficial (you couldn't live without your gut flora), and a few are pathogenic, but even pathogenic ones are unlikely to exist on a keyboard in sufficient numbers to harm a healthy adult.

Over-use of anyibacterials encourages the spread of resistance, and may even lead to conditions such as asthma.

Duh.

[danpsmith]

a normal PC keyboard was infected by more bacteria than a normal toilet seat.

Why are people surprised by findings such as this one?

Obviously the toilet seat has less germs. Everyone associates "grossness" with germs in their head. Going to the bathroom is gross, and fecal matter is gross, therefore it must be full of germs and bacteria. Not the case, in fact, quite the opposite.

There are more bacteria on your face, more bacteria on your hands and more bacteria in your mouth than your buttocks in most cases.

Just put in the context of contact with the germ filled world you can see by common sense why this would be true:

Your rear end gets washed and then has very little exposure to germs. Your hands and face are out there all day making contact with all types of bacteria.

So I guess my point is that you can't say keyboards are dirty just because they are more bacteria filled than a toilet seat, because I don't even think a door knob holds up to that standard.

Now common sense would also side with keyboards being rather bacteria filled, but I hardly would consider that comparison to be an indicator.