Statistics show sharing of electronic devices leads to spreading of illnesses

Salmonella, rhinovirus, the common cold, the flu, and staph bacteria. Hypochondriacs consider yourself warned.  Campus computers are some of the least physically maintained resources on all of the University of South Dakota’s  campus. A majority of faculty and staff use one of the computers at least once throughout the day.

However, privately owned computers aren’t much better.  Everyday and everywhere, computers, smartphones and tablets are all a bunch of germ-drenched grease balls waiting to infect their user with another cruelly unusual bacterial or viral infection. Most of the computers on campus may not have viruses on their hard drives, but they definitely have viruses on their keyboards, mice and displays.

Let’s face it, any of us who have checked out or sat down at a computer have gotten some pretty interesting surprises.  Checking out a school computer and opening it to discover chunks of food and sneeze spray all over the keyboard and display is definitely not something to write home about.

According to the Center for Disease Control, it is statistically safer to put a toilet seat up to your face than it is to put your phone up to your face let alone type on a computer’s keyboard.

One of the most commonly discovered contaminants on computer keyboards, mice and mobile devices are such things as the Norovirus, which has no vaccine or treatment. However, stomach flu, common cold, influenza, salmonella and staphylococcus are not much further behind.

Everyone can take simple precautions when using any computer or mobile device.  Easy steps like using hand sanitizer really help reign in the germ festivals taking place on electronics. When working on shared or public computers, just wipe them down, that’s all it comes down to, just making sure the computers being used are clean before and after.        This process is so frequently overlooked everyday and simply remembering to whip out a moist towelette can be the difference between showing up to class sick or just another bushy-tailed Coyote.