A study was conducted by Swinburne University of Technology's Environment and Biotechnology Centre Melbourne, to examine the number and type of microorganisms on shared terminals.
Professor Enzo Palombo, the author of the report stated, “High use, multiple user internet cafés and computer labs are potential hot spots for harboring micro-organisms.”
The study and its findings
Researchers analyzed swabs taken from computers, both shared and those that were handled by one person. The multiple-user terminals belonged to three facilities on the university campus and the single-user ones to members of the staff.
The results were alarming. The researchers found that keyboards used by several people contained five times the number of micro-organisms as those used by just one person.
The tests also revealed that nearly 50 percent of the shared computers were a hot bed of staphylococcus aureus as compared to just 20 percent of the single use key boards.
Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacteria which is usually harmless when on the skin causing pimples, boils, furuncles, but this can lead to serious infections if it enters the body.
Regular cleaning recommended
The researchers cautioned, that the risk of infection was acute if the equipment was not thoroughly cleaned, and recommending regular cleansing of shared keyboards to reduce the risk of transmission to the minimum.
"Given that computers are not routinely disinfected, the potential for transmitting disease is great. Organizations need to be more rigorous in keeping shared equipment clean.
“Keyboards and other hand contact areas such as a computer mouse should be regularly cleaned and disinfected, especially for multiple-user workstations,” added professor Palombo.
The researchers are now planning a study to see if cleaning multi-user keyboards regularly reduces the number of micro-organisms on them.
The findings of the study have been published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
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