Bacteria on the keyboards

Filed in archive Studies on July 16, 2005

With electronic health records becoming more commonplace, subsequent computers are being found more frequently on the hospital wards. Unfortunately, the keyboards are harboring some nasty bacteria:

Computer keyboards and keyboard covers harbored vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus for more than 24 hours, during which time the bacteria easily spread to bare, and in some cases, gloved hands, a Northwestern University study has found.

The findings strongly suggest the need for health care providers to wash their hands after using computers, particularly in hospital settings and around immunocompromised patients, said Gary A. Noskin, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern University and director of health care epidemiology and quality at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The bottom-line: More hand washing. (Bates, "Computer Keyboard Bacteria Travel To Health Care Workers' Hands", Internal Medicine News, Jun.15)