Yet another good reason to wash your hands

Your mother told you and now we're reminding you: Wash your hands.

OK, maybe you are washing your hands, but obviously someone else isn't. A recent research project at the University of Washington found "high levels of fecal coliform bacteria" on some keyboards in two much-used campus library computer labs.

A group of from the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences conducted rudimentary swabs of keyboards, looking for microbial contaminants. According to the campus newspaper, The Daily, they were looking for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which they didn't find, and the fecal coliform bacteria, which they did.

And where there's fecal coliform bacteria, there's a good chance there are other pathogens.

Clara Eustis, branch manager of the downtown Yakima Library, says the article prompted her staff to talk about what other measures they need to take. They already offer hand sanitizers at the reference desk, and regularly clean keyboards.

This isn't the first study, apparently. A quick Internet search found a study conducted at the University of North Carolina's Health Care System. That study also found a good supply of bad bacteria, but remember, it was in a hospital and other medical facilities. That study went a step further and looked at how best to disinfect computer keyboards. Various bacteria were deliberately put on keyboards, left for 45 minutes and then different cleaning methods were used, including sterile water, alcohol and chlorine on paper towels and several commercially packaged disinfectant wipes. All were effective in removing the bacteria (about 95 percent) but the commercial wipes were effective for 48 hours, according to the study (www.webmd.com/news/20060426/clean-that-computer-keyboard).

That's good news.

So while our first reaction to this story was a shudder, our second is a promise to ourselves to be good citizens by washing our hands before we use communal equipment -- like library computers and grocery store carts -- and good watchdogs of our own health by washing our hands after using those public items, just in case someone else didn't.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.

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