Dirty keyboard cause infections in hospitals

An interesting article from The Globe and Mail on how the proliferation of Blackberries, PDAs and other types of information technology in hospitals poses a serious challenge for infection control in hospitals. Keyboards can become contaminated and the contamination can be transmitted from the keyboard to the hands of health-care workers.

Contaminated keyboard can "causes skin infections but can trigger life-threatening bloodstream infections such as cases of VRE and MRSA.

Keyboards should be cleaned on a regular basis, more attention has to be paid to the cleanliness of hands — a suggestion no infection-control practitioner would argue against.

Any contact with a keyboard in a hospital setting should be followed by hand washing, Dr. Noskin said.

Bugs like VRE and MRSA aren't generally found outside hospitals, so people who share keyboards at work or home aren't likely to be at risk of running into them. But other bugs can persist on those keys, suggesting more frequent hand washing probably makes sense there, too.

Though cell phone keyboards are not specifically mentioned in this article, this has come up in previous articles (see related links below).

-- Cell phones carry germs in hospitals - Cell phones used by healthcare personnel in hospitals can spread dangerous infectious agents, according to researchers in Israel.

-- A mobile-phone charger with a sterilization function - Crystal manufacturer Yoosung Global has developed a mobile-phone charger with a sterilization function, the first of its kind in the world, as well as lamp and air-purifying capabilities.

-- LG Telecom gets your handset germ-free - Our handsets are inhabited by about 25,000 bacteria, according to LG Telecom.

-- Sterlize your cell phone while having an ice cream - KTF customers have their mobile phones sterilized by ultra violet light while enjoying ice cream at the Drama House in Myongdong, in August.

emily | 11:34 AM | Health Issues and SMS Alerts |
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