16 replies to this topic

[NdnRomeo]

"According to this study funded by Clorox, keyboards have 265 times more bacteria on them than a toilet seat."

"...the average desk has ...400 times more bacteria than the average toilet..."

http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/news/2006...-your-keyboard/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6979032/


Lesson for today: disinfect your desk and keyboard, because our fingers are the biggest carriers of bacteria. So if you accidentally touched your face, then started typing, no matter how many times you wash your hands, you are just getting them infected again.



Another source

Your Computer Is 400 Times Dirtier Than Your Toilet Seat
from the how-nice dept

Well, this is probably going to gross out a few people and make them pull back from their desk, but it turns out that your telephone, computer keyboard and mouse probably have 400 times the germs as your toilet seat. The thing is, people wash toilet seats... but they tend not to do much to clean or disinfect the things they keep their hands touching all day, every day. There's a great quote in the article: "Desks are really bacteria cafeterias." Anyway, they recommend that you disinfect your computer and telephone equipment on a fairly regular basis. Seems like a good idea.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20040311/239226.shtml

[Mandy Ann]

Eww yeah. I've actually been lysoling my keyboard and mouse everyday or every other day (OCD)... but I'm glad I found this out.

[Wynne]

Always close the toilet lid when you flush. If you don't, the bacteria get aerosolized and float around in that enclosed space for hours after the flush. Bleh.

Here's a neat quiz:
Germ IQ

[Mandy Ann]

^^ I HATE when people don't shut the lid when they flush. It drives me nuts and I feel so dirty and gross going in there after. My mom has a horrible habit of doing that

[Cyph31]

i think modern society could use a little less rabid determination to sterilize everything and medicate everything and instead try to let people build up their immunities for a change

[The11]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_dpQfHmAWU

[Wynne]

i think modern society could use a little less rabid determination to sterilize everything and medicate everything and instead try to let people build up their immunities for a change

I still want people to wash their hands after they use the bathroom. I'm talking basic hygiene here, not rabid sterilization.

You do have a point. Babies and children allowed to sleep with or play with the family pet have fewer allergies when they get older. That's simply allowing natural immunities to develop.

So kids, get out there and play in the mud and dirt, sleep with your pets. You'll sometimes get sick but when you're older you will have a healthier immune system that can cope with minor invasions without sending out the immune system SWAT and cause over reaction to 'minor' allergens.

[Mandy Ann]

^Wow, I had no idea. I guess my over excessive handwashing is a really bad thing for the future then eh? I have this OCD type fear that a lot of the things I touch are contaminated and i'll get some kind of infection lol.

[Wynne]

^Wow, I had no idea. I guess my over excessive handwashing is a really bad thing for the future then eh? I have this OCD type fear that a lot of the things I touch are contaminated and i'll get some kind of infection lol.

Basic handwashing is just fine and good for you. It's the number one way of preventing spread of contagious and pathogenic organisms.

Basic handwashing: wash hands before eating, after playing outdoors or playing with pets, after using the bathroom, and after blowing your nose. Of course you'd wash your hands after you come into contact with a suspicious fluid. You'd wash your hands prior to preparing food, and in between contacts with things like raw meats. You'd wash your hands more often if you're sick, too. Just basic stuff.

If you DO find yourself washing your hands in a ritualistic manner (you always wash in a certain routine with the same things and always place everything exactly back as you found it when washing, and you wash without real reason for contamination fear), then you might consider an evaluation for OCD. It's not really likely that you have OCD, though.

[Mandy Ann]

^^ I did already get evaluated..... it was a therapist though lol... I originally went for anxiety problems but then it turned out that the anxiety was most likely caused by BDD and OCD This year has been the worst yet for me..... I probably wash my hands about 5 times each hour (besides when I sleep of course).. and it has to be done a couple times in one handwashing session with antibacterial soap and super hot water

My hands do not look pretty.. thats for sure....

[Charlotta]

^^ I did already get evaluated..... it was a therapist though lol... I originally went for anxiety problems but then it turned out that the anxiety was most likely caused by BDD and OCD This year has been the worst yet for me..... I probably wash my hands about 5 times each hour (besides when I sleep of course).. and it has to be done a couple times in one handwashing session with antibacterial soap and super hot water

I've got OCD too....It's tough especially during the school year when students are already lacking in sleep....takes up so much time.

[Wynne]

^^ I did already get evaluated..... it was a therapist though lol... I originally went for anxiety problems but then it turned out that the anxiety was most likely caused by BDD and OCD This year has been the worst yet for me..... I probably wash my hands about 5 times each hour (besides when I sleep of course).. and it has to be done a couple times in one handwashing session with antibacterial soap and super hot water

My hands do not look pretty.. thats for sure....

Are you taking a medication for OCD/BDD? There are some that help. Prozac a few years ago totally killed my OCD. Gone, not one bit left. I also determined that it WOULD work for me. Plus realization that my actions were not going to change the world and were only relieving my anxiety....then actually just increasing it. No more OCD, no more anxiety. Just typical stuff.

You definitely do need some therapy and/or medication AND a second opinion/evaluation by a psychologist. Did you have the OCD before the impetigo like outbreak? That could have increased the OCD. Darn, and my handwashing advice back then sure didn't help you out, just reinforced your feelings.

Anyway, the basic handwashing advice above is all you need. Five times an hour is excessive and indicates you need some help. It IS treatable. I'm cured!

[Mandy Ann]

^^ I did already get evaluated..... it was a therapist though lol... I originally went for anxiety problems but then it turned out that the anxiety was most likely caused by BDD and OCD This year has been the worst yet for me..... I probably wash my hands about 5 times each hour (besides when I sleep of course).. and it has to be done a couple times in one handwashing session with antibacterial soap and super hot water

My hands do not look pretty.. thats for sure....

Are you taking a medication for OCD/BDD? There are some that help. Prozac a few years ago totally killed my OCD. Gone, not one bit left. I also determined that it WOULD work for me. Plus realization that my actions were not going to change the world and were only relieving my anxiety....then actually just increasing it. No more OCD, no more anxiety. Just typical stuff.

You definitely do need some therapy and/or medication AND a second opinion/evaluation by a psychologist. Did you have the OCD before the impetigo like outbreak? That could have increased the OCD. Darn, and my handwashing advice back then sure didn't help you out, just reinforced your feelings.

Anyway, the basic handwashing advice above is all you need. Five times an hour is excessive and indicates you need some help. It IS treatable. I'm cured!

Hey Wynne Yeah, Prozac is something i've been concidering for a long time now, but due to the high costs of medicines i'm taking already (expense of accutane and 50 dollars a month for birth control)... I wasn't sure if my family could afford it or not. I have been trying to find some generics to go on, but i'm not sure what is good/what isn't. I figured i'd wait until after I end accutane to start medications for OCD so I can have one less pill to take a day haha. Plus, i'm also a bit paranoid that if my dermatologist see's i'm suddenly on Prozac (or a generic), that she'll think it's for depression and want me off accutane, when i'm truely not depressed at all.

I have had OCD since I was a little girl... I remember being little and my mom's friend laughing at me for going to the sink so much to wash my hands. As the years went by... it seemed as if I grew out of it, because I no longer cared. Then, about a year and a half ago maybe.. it came back and has gotten a lot worse ever since. The one thing that pushed my OCD to the limits though, was like you mentioned, was the possible impetigo/staph infection. Before, I still washed my hands a lot more than the average person, but it was nothing compared to how I am now. I even started to lysol things daily.. my keyboard, mouse, doorhandles, desktop... and I won't touch any faucets, beauty products, etc. with my bare hands... it's gotta be with a tissue. I have this intense fear that i'll get another severe breakout or staph infection of some sort. I know what I do is absolutely ridiculous, but I just can't seem to get it out of my brain that I won't get in infection from not washing my hands 3 times in a row or lysoling everything. I am glad to know that its treatable/curable though I'd like for my hands NOT to look like an 85 year old woman's lol.

[acne_battle]

^^ I did already get evaluated..... it was a therapist though lol... I originally went for anxiety problems but then it turned out that the anxiety was most likely caused by BDD and OCD This year has been the worst yet for me..... I probably wash my hands about 5 times each hour (besides when I sleep of course).. and it has to be done a couple times in one handwashing session with antibacterial soap and super hot water

My hands do not look pretty.. thats for sure....

Are you taking a medication for OCD/BDD? There are some that help. Prozac a few years ago totally killed my OCD. Gone, not one bit left. I also determined that it WOULD work for me. Plus realization that my actions were not going to change the world and were only relieving my anxiety....then actually just increasing it. No more OCD, no more anxiety. Just typical stuff.

You definitely do need some therapy and/or medication AND a second opinion/evaluation by a psychologist. Did you have the OCD before the impetigo like outbreak? That could have increased the OCD. Darn, and my handwashing advice back then sure didn't help you out, just reinforced your feelings.

Anyway, the basic handwashing advice above is all you need. Five times an hour is excessive and indicates you need some help. It IS treatable. I'm cured!

Hey Wynne Yeah, Prozac is something i've been concidering for a long time now, but due to the high costs of medicines i'm taking already (expense of accutane and 50 dollars a month for birth control)... I wasn't sure if my family could afford it or not. I have been trying to find some generics to go on, but i'm not sure what is good/what isn't. I figured i'd wait until after I end accutane to start medications for OCD so I can have one less pill to take a day haha. Plus, i'm also a bit paranoid that if my dermatologist see's i'm suddenly on Prozac (or a generic), that she'll think it's for depression and want me off accutane, when i'm truely not depressed at all.

I have had OCD since I was a little girl... I remember being little and my mom's friend laughing at me for going to the sink so much to wash my hands. As the years went by... it seemed as if I grew out of it, because I no longer cared. Then, about a year and a half ago maybe.. it came back and has gotten a lot worse ever since. The one thing that pushed my OCD to the limits though, was like you mentioned, was the possible impetigo/staph infection. Before, I still washed my hands a lot more than the average person, but it was nothing compared to how I am now. I even started to lysol things daily.. my keyboard, mouse, doorhandles, desktop... and I won't touch any faucets, beauty products, etc. with my bare hands... it's gotta be with a tissue. I have this intense fear that i'll get another severe breakout or staph infection of some sort. I know what I do is absolutely ridiculous, but I just can't seem to get it out of my brain that I won't get in infection from not washing my hands 3 times in a row or lysoling everything. I am glad to know that its treatable/curable though I'd like for my hands NOT to look like an 85 year old woman's lol.

Are you sure that is OCD and not being cautious about treating your acne? Maybe you wash your hands a lot because you dont want to get more pimples from touching your face with dirty hand. Theres nothing wrong with that

[Wynne]

Your derm wouldn't freak out if she/he knew the reason behind the Prozac and your long term history of OCD. If you find a psychologist to help you out, sometimes the drug company DONATES the medication to patients in need. That is how I originally got the Prozac. I think Eli Lilly makes Prozac and there's a program called Lilly Cares. Yes, they do, and here's the info:

Lilly Cares™
Lilly Cares is a patient assistance program provided by Lilly through the Lilly Cares Foundation. As part of the company's efforts to provide access to our products for legal U.S. residents regardless of their ability to pay, we created a program to offer free medication, through physicians, to patients who are otherwise unable to obtain our products. Lilly Cares assists patients who are uninsured and whose income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2004, the Lilly Cares program responded to 275,000 requests, valued at $167 million, for Lilly products. Most Lilly products are available through the program.

Eligibility is based on the patient's inability to pay and lack of third-party drug payment assistance, including insurance, Medicaid and government, community, or private programs and cannot be eligible for Medicare. Applications are available to anyone and must be completed and signed by the patient and the physician. Patients can download a blank application from the Lilly Cares website or applications can be faxed to you by calling 1-800-545-6962.

from: Lilly Cares

[Mandy Ann]

Thank you for the link!!

[EvaHonestly]

I'm pretty big on Lysoling my keyboard. Additionally, cell phones and pens are usually disgusting as well-- be careful with those!