By Caroline Porter, The Wall Street Journal

When you combine a cellphone’s proximity to your ears, nose and mouth with its bacteria-loving warmth, the result can be harmful to your health. This hazard, says Jeffrey Cain, the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and chief of family medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado, often goes unnoticed. “Some things we think are personal are actually more public than we imagine.” Bacteria from a phone can cause flu, pinkeye or diarrhea, says Dr. Cain.

See full article here.

DISPOSABLE WIPES THAT ELIMINATE GERMS ON DEVICES FOR OVER 2 WEEKS

Advanced Antimicrobial Protection For Phones, Tablets, Keyboards and Other Devices

modulR, the leader in mobile iPad solutions, today introduced ionSwipes, a new weapon in the fight to stop the spread of germs. ionSwipes long-term antimicrobial wipes eliminate 99.9% of germs, viruses and bacteria on your devices for over 2 weeks.

“We live in a touch screen world, and those screens are highly effective at transmitting germs,” said Josh Beatty, founder of modulR. “In fact, cold and flu viruses can survive for up to 18 hours on our devices. Think about how many times you handle your phone throughout the day. ionSwipes offer the most advanced germ defense for all your devices – perfect for offices, schools, hospitals, and anywhere else screens are shared.”

With flu season on the way, the transmission of germs poses a potential public health hazard. Seventy-two percent of people admit to working sick and spreading germs, and it is the surfaces we touch that are the major causes for transmission.

Other screen cleaning products may disinfect, but only ionSwipes eliminates germs and prevents them from coming back. The core technology of ionSwipes is based on decades of university research, development and experience.  Harnessing silver, copper and zinc ions at the nano-scale, ionSwipes is able to provide broad-based infection control that is completely safe, natural and long lasting.

To help spread the word about spreading germs, ionSwipes has started a campaign for clean screens everywhere at RememberToWipe.com. The site includes “viral” videos and educational infographics through a partnership with Keeping It Kleen – a health education resource.

By Jesse Ellison, Newsweek
The unveiling of the newest Apple iPhone was greeted with typical fervor last week. The slimmest ever, it can be taken anywhere—including to the bathroom, where, statistically, you probably will use it.

In January, a marketing firm found that three quarters of people with cellphones admit to using them in the bathroom. One quarter say they don’t go to the bathroom without theirs. Technology on the toilet is “the hot topic in bathroom etiquette these days,” according to Michael T. Sykes, a computational biologist who as a graduate student started a website called the International Center for Bathroom Etiquette, an Emily Post for the potty of sorts, whose tagline reads “performing #1 and #2 in comfort and style since 1995.” Our devices—including not just phones but tablets and e-readers and even our laptops—have, it seems, replaced printed matter when it comes to the bathroom, too.

The problem is that they’re not as disposable. Newspapers get chucked out, but tablets get passed around, brought to meetings, and even taken to bed. Phones get held up to our faces and placed on the dinner table. A 2011 study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that one in six cellphones tested positive for traces of, er, bathroom activity. It’s a whole new world, and according to Sykes, the lines of acceptability are still being drawn. For him, it comes down to size. “A phone, you can put it in your pocket,” he says. “But if you’ve got your iPad in there, where do you put it? Are you balancing it on your lap? The floor? We’ve pretty much got it sorted out how to keep our clothes off the floor. But I don’t know what they’re doing with their iPad when they have to wipe, and it makes me nervous.” The logistical difficulties don’t seem to be stopping anybody. Last spring, a Yahoo survey found that a third of men said they frequently took theirs to the bathroom.

But why would we risk soiling any possession—technological or otherwise? What is the appeal of bringing reading material of any kind at all? In his recent book, Psychology in the Bathroom, Nick Haslam explores what we know about why and how we use the loo. “Some of the early psychoanalysts wrote that there is actually a deep feeling that we’re losing something out one end and have to reclaim it from the other,” he says. “But anecdotally, people talk about spending lots of time on the toilet reading because it’s a quiet space. Maybe this tells you more about people’s dependence on technology than their dubious toilet habits.”

See original article here.

By Susan E. Matthews, MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer | LiveScience.com

Cellphones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a man in Uganda reportedly contracted Ebola after stealing one.

He stole the phone from a quarantined ward of a hospital, near the site of a recent Ebola outbreak, reports said.

But regardless of your proximity to an Ebola outbreak, your cellphone is still probably pretty grimy, said Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona.

“They’ve got quite a bit on them,” Gerba said. “When’s the last time you cleaned your cellphone?”

While toilets tend to get cleaned frequently, because people associate the bathroom with germs, cellphones and other commonly handled objects — like remote controls— are often left out of the cleaning routine.

Cellphones pick up germs all the time, Gerba said. “I see people talk on their phone on toilets.”

However, the amount of germs on a phone isn’t a problem — it’s the sharing of phones between people. Without sharing, each phone carries just one set of germs, and won’t get its owner sick, Gerba said.
The problem with phones is that we’re in constant contact with them, and they spend a lot of time in close proximity to our faces and mouths. And, because it’s an electronic device, most people are hesitant about cleaning them.

This is also this case with remote controls, which, Gerba noted, are also often used by people when they’re sick. Remotes are more frequently shared, too, so they’re usually even worse than phones for spreading germs, he said.

Other common culprits that are hotspots of unseen disease include office phones, shopping carts and the first-floor buttons of elevators, he said.

To limit the spread of diseases from phones or other objects, try not to share them, or wipe them down with an antibacterial wipe if you do. While sprays might damage the equipment, a gentle wipe should do the trick, Gerba said.

Pass it on: Your cellphone is 10 times more germy than a toilet seat.

Article originally appeared on MyHealthNewsDaily

By Stephen Wandera/ASSOCIATED PRESS

An unlucky crook caught the Ebola virus when he swiped a cell phone from a patient battling the disease at a hospital in western Uganda, the locus of an outbreak of the deadly fever.

The 40-year-old thief snuck past security at Kagadi Hospital Aug. 14 and nabbed the device from a helpless man in the hospital’s Ebola isolation ward, Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported Sunday.

The patient reported the theft and later died, the newspaper said.

Local cops tracked the thief after he used the phone to contact some pals, authorities said.

They caught up to him in person when he returned to the hospital complaining of symptoms typical of Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever that kills quickly.

While at the hospital, the man admitted to sneaking in and stealing the phone, which is worth about 60,000 Ugandan shillings, or around $24.

“The suspect is admitted at Kagadi Hospital with clinical signs of Ebola,” Dr. Dan Kyamanywa, a health officer in the Kibaale district, told reporters there.

“He is receiving medication. We have obtained samples from him,” he said.

Article originally appeared on NYDailyNews.com

How unhealthy is it to take your shoes off in the security line at the airport? What’s the germ factor, and how much should we worry?

Wall Street Journal Video -

Excerpt from www.forensicsciencetechnician.org/

1. Portable toilets

A combination of high traffic and no plumbing make portable toilets a veritable Shangri-la for bacteria and other microbes.

2. Slaughterhouses

Though heavily sanitized in some areas, the main floor of the slaughterhouse involves hundreds of farm animals crammed into one tiny space. And then they get dead, and then they get hacked into meat. Suffice to say, slaughterhouses are rather germy establishments

4. Kitchen sinks

Most people do not realize it, but kitchen sinks are one of the dirtiest places in the home, harboring used dishes and their accompanying decaying food particles.

5. Door handles

No matter where they are located, door handles act as a magnet for germs, dirt, and assorted grime. They are one of the most guilty culprits in the spread of flu and colds.

10. Ganges River

Consistently ranked as one of the most polluted in the world, people coming into contact with Ganges water put themselves at risk for cholera, dysentery, cryptosporidium, and other water-borne illnesses.

11. Purses and handbags

Numerous studies have shown that the inside of purses, backpacks, and other daily transports harbor all sorts of unpleasant viruses and microbes. Food, gum, and other perishables only serve to make the situation worse.

13. Monkey cages

Monkeys sure are cute, what with looking like particularly fuzzy people and all. They also happen to really, really enjoy slinging their own feces about, too.

17. Oscar Wilde’s grave

Like a Parisian Blarney Stone, tourists traditionally leave a kiss for the celebrated Irish writer right on his tombstone. The rock is spotted with thousands of red lipstick smears and their associated microscopic companions.

18. Landfills

Tons of trash, both organic and synthetic, cannot possibly be sanitary under any condition. The rusting, used razors and needles alone hold the potential to pass around any number of blood-borne diseases.

23. Keyboards

The sweat and oils from fingers and hands leave behind grime and communicable diseases such as the flu, colds, strep throat, and others. Public computers at libraries, schools, and other organizations pose the most threat.

24. Communal office equipment

Staplers, phones, chairs, copy machines, and other devices shared by an entire office follow the same basic logic as keyboards and playgrounds. If people touch it, it gets smeared with grease and filth and runs the risk of spreading all sorts of illnesses.

25. Cell phones

Many recent studies have shown that cell phones, which come into intimate contact with hands and mouths, are actually far dirtier than toilets.

27. Schools

According to The Wall Street Journal, teachers actually come into contact with more harmful bacteria than almost any other position.

33. Healthcare facilities

Obviously, some parts of hospitals and doctor’s offices remain almost completely sanitary. However, waiting and emergency rooms witness a multitude of illnesses on an hourly basis, and the biohazard depositories alone probably contain enough disease-ridden blood, pus, saliva, metabolic waste, tissues, and other human leavings to kill a bull elephant.

34. Nursing homes

Unfortunately, far too many elderly individuals end up in lackluster care centers that delay the cleaning of urine and feces or neglect changing their bed linens. This leads not only to bacteria which may cause serious illness – even death – in these centers’ frail inhabitants, but the possibility of terrible sores and infections as well.

41. ATM machines

ATMs see a lot of traffic, and with the sheer volume of hands passing over the buttons, the greasy oils and residues left behind provide a treasure trove of bacteria – many of whom may lead to unpleasant illnesses.

45. Gym equipment

Equipment at public gyms are basically relatively stationary versions of public transportation. The biggest difference being, of course, that these machines take it upon themselves to absorb all the sweat and accompanying bacteria.

48. Soap Dispensers

It may seem paradoxical that soap and soap dispensers – especially those in public restrooms – are actually quite dirty.

See full list at http://www.forensicsciencetechnician.org/50-germiest-places-in-the-world/