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Monday, October 25, 2010

Touch-Screen Devices Can Harbor Flu Germs


A squeeze, a flick, a touch - but keep those grimy, germ-infested hands off that iPhone. Who knows where those fingers have been? Personal touch-screen devices - iPads, BlackBerrys and Droids - are now seemingly everywhere, potentially harboring the germs and viruses that turn voices raspy and send noses running.

Want to peek at a digital snapshot, a friend's Facebook status or to show off the latest YouTube video? Best to just look, not touch - or risk going viral yourself. British researchers provide some stomach-churning data: Mobile phones harbor 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a typical men's restroom.

According to a study, published by the Journal of Applied Microbiology, the risks of transmitting pathogens from glass surfaces to a person's skin are relatively high. If you put a virus on a surface, like an iPhone, about 30 percent of it will get on your fingertips and a fair amount of it may go from your fingers to your eyes, mouth or nose, the most likely routes of infection.

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