Stomach Flu from your keyboard and mouse
Last February, an outbreak of the stomach flu at a Washington, D.C. elementary school left 79 students and 24 staff members sick. The cause? In a first-grade classroom, a computer mouse and keyboard tested positive for norovirus, otherwise known as the stomach flu.
More recently, a school in New York City has similarly experienced an ongoing outbreak of the norovirus since last November. A reported 500 people were infected, showing up each day at emergency rooms around the city.
“There is evidence that shared objects and surfaces help transmit disease,” said Dr. Shua Chai, a CDC epidemiologist and co-author of the report, published in the Jan. 4 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “This is the first time that we have demonstrated that keyboards and computer mice can be a source of transmission of norovirus,” he added. So make sure that if you or your child shares a computer, to wash your hands after using shared objects and invest in washable keyboards and mice, such as ones we’ve tested from Unotron and Belkin.
Germs. They are everywhere. In the office or in a net cafe, you share and pass on these germs via the mouse and keyboard. Even back in my former work place, keyboards and mouse were shared. Every time it’s my shift, the table, even the keyboard are so dirty. I mean, what the hell are they eating on that table. I have to tissue-wipe the keyboard with an alcohol and even the mouse. I regularly clean the mouse ball, I take it out of the unit and wash it in the restroom.
[via gearlog.com]
Popularity: 2% [?]
Tambayan.ph provides important news regarding (or related to) the Philippines. The site also features gadgets, technology news, interesting websites, online games, and much more.