You always (hopefully) wash your hands after you use the restroom, make sure your countertops are clean, and turn your head whenever you need to sneeze or cough. But that phone sitting in your pocket may be the worst offender of all, and you don’t even pay attention to it.
Stanford University conducted a study on the spreading of germs and viruses. One of its key points – touch-screen devices are dangerous.
“If you’re sharing the device, then you’re sharing your influenza with someone else who touches it,” said study co-author Timothy Julian, a doctoral student.
Other research suggests that the average mobile phone contains 18 times more bacteria than the typical handle in a men’s restroom. You know what that means? Washing your hands after using the restroom apparently isn’t such a big deal anymore. No, wait; that can’t possibly be a good idea. But then again, are you going to wash your hands every time you finish texting someone?
Julian’s warning continues, “If you put 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.”
But can we really be expected to just hold onto our phones for dear life? Never let another soul touch it? Nah, the lesson here is simply to take care of your own hygiene. Phones, just like everything else, will have germs. So just wash your hands regularly and everything will be fine.
All this fear mongering over germs is just silly.
