Keep your keyboard clean

It’s not only your computer that gets bugs but also your computer keyboard. And these bugs are the kind that can make you ill, according to a study published in London by a consumer group Thursday.

A microbiologist swabbed the computer keyboards on the consumer group’s own equipment. All of the 33 keyboards tested contained various bugs such as E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and enterobacteria — all of which can make people ill with skin infections, vomiting, or diarrhea.

For comparison, the researcher also took samples off a lavatory seat and the handle to the toilet door.

One keyboard had so much contamination that the microbiologist had it removed for thorough cleaning. The keyboard had bugs five times as much as the typical lavatory seat and this was 150 times the acceptable limit.

Two more keyboards showed warning levels of Staphylococcus while two others yielded very elevated readings of coliforms and enterobacteria.

The primary reason for the high level of contamination is eating food at desks. Bits of food get deposited on the keyboard, encouraging bacteria to multiply quickly to millions.

Another reason is that people often forget to wash their hands after using the lavatory, and the bugs from the lavatory get transferred to the keyboard. Accumulated dust on the keyboards, which tends to trap minute amounts of moisture, also becomes breeding ground for bacterial growth.

It must be pretty obvious that keyboards can get very dirty and contaminated. Yet, according to a survey on 4,000 people conducted by the same consumer group, most people do not give much thought to the dirt that accumulates on their personal computers.

About one in ten (11 percent) of survey respondents said they never cleaned their keyboards. One-fifth (20 percent) of respondents did not clean their mouse, while nearly half of them (46 percent) often let more than one month lapse before cleaning their keyboard. Only 22 percent of respondents cleaned their keyboard at least once a month.

Having so many keyboards in the office infested with bacteria, people should be aware that “hotdesking” — the practice in which people work at different desks every week — can become a means for spreading disease. People do not know anymore who used the keyboard before them.

Particularly for offices, but also in homes, people should make sure the computer does not become a health hazard.

Safety Tip:
* Clean your keyboard regularly. Make sure the computer is shut down and unplugged before cleaning the keyboard. Dust it gently with lint-free cloth and use approved cleaning fluid.

* Wash your hands after going to the lavatory.

* Avoid eating at your desk as much as possible.