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Also clean your smartphone. It builds up more bacteria than a petri dish laborant could hope for.

LeoPanthera 8y ago
Do you have a citation for this? Because it surprises me. Most smartphones are hard, dry surfaces, which inhibits bacteria growth.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  You hold it in your hand, pressed against your ear, while speaking into it with your mouth. It has bacteria on it. I wouldn't be too worried. Is isn't any dirtier than your hands or your ears already are, but I wouldn't be a good idea to share a phone with a flu sufferer.
  - ohazi 8y ago
    Pet peeve: people who actually touch their smartphone to their face when calling rather than just hovering near their ear. The layer of grease on the glass afterwords is absolutely disgusting, and on exactly the area that you touch with your fingers every two seconds. Why would anyone do this!?
    - pizza 8y ago
      Are you asking why anyone would ever touch something to their face and fingers?
      - ohazi 8y ago
        Yes? I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of touch-screening through bacon grease, and am wondering why anyone would willingly subject themselves to this.
        krageon 8y ago
        I'm morbidly curious why there is bacon grease on your cheek/ear. Doesn't food go in your mouth? Don't you clean your face/hands after eating poorly (ie the food hasn't all gone in your mouth)?
        ohazi 8y ago
        Most people have grease on their face, especially near the end of the day, and when they're careless enough to get it on their phone, it's roughly the same consistency as bacon grease.
- pc86 8y ago
  Any grease on your skin will find its way onto the phone, it's probably not as dry as you would think.
- arosequist 8y ago
  I'm not a scientist, but this paper found "high level bacterial contamination" of cell phones: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466825/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466825/ Anecdotally, we were recently in the NICU of a children's hospital and they required washing our hands and cleaning our cell phones before entering. It doesn't seem too far-fetched that they would have a reason for doing so.
  - ballenf 8y ago
    Does the article address why cell phones wouldn't be an extension of the skin flora[1], in terms of normally having good bacteria? Or is there something about cell phones that kills off good bacteria, but not bad? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_flora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_flora (there are 1000 species of bacteria from 19 phyla normally inhabiting healthy skin)
    - adzm 8y ago
      People wash their hands. People don't usually wash their phone.
  - blowski 8y ago
    David Mitchell, a British comedian, has a great comment on this. Given that all smartphone users are not dead, it just goes to show how meaningless studies like that are. Being around people with compromised immune systems requires different standards, but day to day, it doesn't seem to matter.
    - komali2 8y ago
      I understand the attraction of stories like this, but it's not science. For all I know, I only got the flu this year because my cell phone is dirty. Same for my roommate and his sinus infection. The immune system does its job extraordinarily well, but putting it to work does take a toll on your body. I suspect we'll have studies linking random episodes of mini-depression or a bad day at the gym to an immune system in the middle of a pitched fight against an illness that it eventually wins, meaning the person doesn't get sick, meaning they attribute the bad day to just a bad day.
- sensor_ship 8y ago
  All you have to do is tilt your touchscreen to see all the fingerprints smeared across the glass, to notice the microfilm of built up skin oils that provide an environment for microbial growth.
- pieter_mj 8y ago
  Quick and dirty (pun intended) translation of the most important points of a recent newsitem on a Belgian Dutch tv channel (https://nieuws.vtm.be/vtm-nieuws/binnenland/video-zo-vuil-je-smartphone https://nieuws.vtm.be/vtm-nieuws/binnenland/video-zo-vuil-je...) According to a KUL researcher, between 20 to 100 species of bacteria are living on any smartphone (she analysed 5 phones). Almost all species are skin bacteria, but a strand of stafylococcus aureus could cause problems such as sepsis, and wound infections. Undoutedly, you have read ample smartphone reviews with complaints of smears being too visible on the casings or screens.
  - phyzome 8y ago
    /me makes a note to not grind his cellphone into any gaping wounds
- icedchai 8y ago
  See https://nerdist.com/what-it-looks-like-when-students-press-their-phones-into-growth-plates/ https://nerdist.com/what-it-looks-like-when-students-press-t...
Semirhage 8y ago
Or don’t, and keep your immune system on its toes. Over-cleanliness is known to be problematic, and it’s why we have kids who can be taken out with a peanut. If dirt in a a particular regime is positively linked to illness (i.e. cross contamination of raw meats during food prep) then take measures. On the other hand the mere fact that something is dirty or bacteria-laden is not a reason to run for antiseptic wipes. The whole world is teeming with bacteria, most of it is harmless.
SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
I hate to break this to you but _everything_ is covered in bacteria - the only way to be truly safe is to live in one of those big inflatable bubbles
- csomar 8y ago
  You have around 1-2Kg of bacteria in your body right now. The inflatable bubble won't help you. You'll also probably die if you kill all of these bacteria as some of them are co-living with you.
  - ac29 8y ago
    Fun fact: you have approximately as many bacterial cells in/on your body as you have human cells. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991899/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991899/

Do you have a citation for this? Because it surprises me. Most smartphones are hard, dry surfaces, which inhibits bacteria growth.

sandworm101 8y ago
You hold it in your hand, pressed against your ear, while speaking into it with your mouth. It has bacteria on it. I wouldn't be too worried. Is isn't any dirtier than your hands or your ears already are, but I wouldn't be a good idea to share a phone with a flu sufferer.
- ohazi 8y ago
  Pet peeve: people who actually touch their smartphone to their face when calling rather than just hovering near their ear. The layer of grease on the glass afterwords is absolutely disgusting, and on exactly the area that you touch with your fingers every two seconds. Why would anyone do this!?
  - pizza 8y ago
    Are you asking why anyone would ever touch something to their face and fingers?
    - ohazi 8y ago
      Yes? I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of touch-screening through bacon grease, and am wondering why anyone would willingly subject themselves to this.
      - krageon 8y ago
        I'm morbidly curious why there is bacon grease on your cheek/ear. Doesn't food go in your mouth? Don't you clean your face/hands after eating poorly (ie the food hasn't all gone in your mouth)?
        ohazi 8y ago
        Most people have grease on their face, especially near the end of the day, and when they're careless enough to get it on their phone, it's roughly the same consistency as bacon grease.
pc86 8y ago
Any grease on your skin will find its way onto the phone, it's probably not as dry as you would think.
arosequist 8y ago
I'm not a scientist, but this paper found "high level bacterial contamination" of cell phones: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466825/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466825/ Anecdotally, we were recently in the NICU of a children's hospital and they required washing our hands and cleaning our cell phones before entering. It doesn't seem too far-fetched that they would have a reason for doing so.
- ballenf 8y ago
  Does the article address why cell phones wouldn't be an extension of the skin flora[1], in terms of normally having good bacteria? Or is there something about cell phones that kills off good bacteria, but not bad? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_flora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_flora (there are 1000 species of bacteria from 19 phyla normally inhabiting healthy skin)
  - adzm 8y ago
    People wash their hands. People don't usually wash their phone.
- blowski 8y ago
  David Mitchell, a British comedian, has a great comment on this. Given that all smartphone users are not dead, it just goes to show how meaningless studies like that are. Being around people with compromised immune systems requires different standards, but day to day, it doesn't seem to matter.
  - komali2 8y ago
    I understand the attraction of stories like this, but it's not science. For all I know, I only got the flu this year because my cell phone is dirty. Same for my roommate and his sinus infection. The immune system does its job extraordinarily well, but putting it to work does take a toll on your body. I suspect we'll have studies linking random episodes of mini-depression or a bad day at the gym to an immune system in the middle of a pitched fight against an illness that it eventually wins, meaning the person doesn't get sick, meaning they attribute the bad day to just a bad day.
sensor_ship 8y ago
All you have to do is tilt your touchscreen to see all the fingerprints smeared across the glass, to notice the microfilm of built up skin oils that provide an environment for microbial growth.
pieter_mj 8y ago
Quick and dirty (pun intended) translation of the most important points of a recent newsitem on a Belgian Dutch tv channel (https://nieuws.vtm.be/vtm-nieuws/binnenland/video-zo-vuil-je-smartphone https://nieuws.vtm.be/vtm-nieuws/binnenland/video-zo-vuil-je...) According to a KUL researcher, between 20 to 100 species of bacteria are living on any smartphone (she analysed 5 phones). Almost all species are skin bacteria, but a strand of stafylococcus aureus could cause problems such as sepsis, and wound infections. Undoutedly, you have read ample smartphone reviews with complaints of smears being too visible on the casings or screens.
- phyzome 8y ago
  /me makes a note to not grind his cellphone into any gaping wounds
icedchai 8y ago
See https://nerdist.com/what-it-looks-like-when-students-press-their-phones-into-growth-plates/ https://nerdist.com/what-it-looks-like-when-students-press-t...

Semirhage 8y ago

Or don’t, and keep your immune system on its toes. Over-cleanliness is known to be problematic, and it’s why we have kids who can be taken out with a peanut. If dirt in a a particular regime is positively linked to illness (i.e. cross contamination of raw meats during food prep) then take measures. On the other hand the mere fact that something is dirty or bacteria-laden is not a reason to run for antiseptic wipes. The whole world is teeming with bacteria, most of it is harmless.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago

I hate to break this to you but _everything_ is covered in bacteria - the only way to be truly safe is to live in one of those big inflatable bubbles

csomar 8y ago
You have around 1-2Kg of bacteria in your body right now. The inflatable bubble won't help you. You'll also probably die if you kill all of these bacteria as some of them are co-living with you.
- ac29 8y ago
  Fun fact: you have approximately as many bacterial cells in/on your body as you have human cells. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991899/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991899/