Could your computer keyboard have more bacteria than a toilet seat?

BOSTON - If you're afraid to touch a toilet seat, perhaps you should be even more afraid of your keyboard.

Our fingers and hands become contaminated with all kinds of germs throughout the day, and research has shown that keyboards, especially those shared between people, harbor large concentrations of bacteria that could pose a danger, such as E. coli, staph aureus, and streptococcus.

One prior study from the University of Arizona found that the average desktop has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. Some of these germs can survive up to 24 hours, and viruses that cause respiratory infections can also linger on keyboards and other shared surfaces.

So if you share a desktop with others, wash your hands before and after use, wipe down surfaces such as the keyboard, mouse, and telephone with disinfectant wipes, and avoid eating at shared workstations.

In:
• Health
• Bacteria

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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