4 ms·

Leaving aside health issues to those involved, people who use smartphones whilst there pose health risks to others especially when preparing food. These people

Leaving aside health issues to those involved, people who use smartphones whilst there pose health risks to others especially when preparing food. These people are likely to wash their hands afterwards then think nothing of answering their smartphones when preparing food. I'm surprised that health officials don't make a much bigger deal of the fact.

eth0up 2y ago
You just kicked at least one elephant in the room, smack in the nads. I sincerely think this is an underestimated issue. It reminds me of the Jewish family afflicted with neurocysticercosis - a disease normally precluded from those not partaking in infected porcine products, but rather normal if the folks handling the food do while neglecting hygiene. I presume grooming, particularly what remains under the fingernails, is the culprit. Tapeworms are quite adhesive. Anyway, if you wish to inflame your cellphone hygiene nightmare, look no further and behold: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199209033271004 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199209033271004
- hilbert42 2y ago
  Exactly!
maroonblazer 2y ago
I'm not following. You're saying people who spread fecal matter on their phones don't wash it off their phones? That seems hard to believe, if for no other reason that the smell would be repulsive.
- Doxin 2y ago
  "fecal matter" here is not nuggets of poop smeared on surfaces. It's germs. You generally don't see, smell, or taste them but they can definitely make you sick.
- binary132 2y ago
  Do you believe that people should only wash their hands after using the bathroom if there are visibly feces on the hands?
  - hilbert42 2y ago
    I know that comment is provocation and I should ignore it, but I'll take the opportunity to say that if people exercised a little more hygiene and washed their hands more frequently—especially when leaving the bathroom whether they've feces on them or not—then we'd have considerably fewer cases of gastroenteritis and other communicable diseases in the community. You don't have to believe me, there are thousands of authoritative references on the net and elsewhere that attest to that. I say that not as an obsessive hand-washer or an anti-germ-freak like Howard Hughes but because it's just commonsense. It also comes from being taught as a child both by my parents and at school to wash my hands before eating food and to be hygienic around food preparation such as washing fruit before eating it. That early training has meant that if say I were to sit at the dinner table without washing my hands I'd have a feeling of being dirty and have the urge to wash them. I'm not alone, many others have similar a experience for the same reason. That said, I suspect the percentage ought to be much higher than it actually is (simple observation tells me that). Again, I'm careful but not obsessive about hygiene and I like most others have occasional minor lapses such as eating an apple or picking strawberries from a punnet without first washing them. Nevertheless, I'm aware of the fact and feel somewhat guilty for not having done so. Similarly, I'm always aware of the many almost futile practices people adopt in the name of hygiene. For example, the commonplace and token-like habit of shop assistants with disposable gloves on preparing say bread rolls and then handling money especially so notes (which are particularly dirty and germ-laden) and not changing to a new pair before the next customer (the same can be said about them handling their smartphones at the same time). Long gone are coins with high silver content that were in part self-cleansing (Ag has strong antimicrobial properties). BTW, if one takes the effort to wipe one's phone with a tissue with a few drops of ethanol (or rubbing alcohol—isopropanol for those in the US) on it then it serves a dual purpose, greasy fingerprints are removed and one's screen is clean—and the alcohol kills most of the microbes.
    - 2y ago
- hilbert42 2y ago
  Bacteria in the invisible droplets from flushing the toilet alone is plenty enough to contaminate your smartphone, big-time. If say you've the highly contagious and all-to-common Noro virus, and even if you've washed your hands thoroughly and then touch your contaminated smartphone you'll go on to contaminate almost every surface you touch, food and everything else. Why don't people still understand this given that it's had such huge airing in recent years (as it's such a significant problem on cruise ships)? That people still don't is the reason why medical and health authorities should be much more proactive in this area.
  - maroonblazer 2y ago
    But the bacteria isn't only getting on your phone. It's getting on your clothes and skin and other parts of you that you also come into contact with.
    - hilbert42 2y ago
      Check the YouTube video and my longer comment below.
- hilbert42 2y ago
  Here's more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHopHBdW2c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHopHBdW2c

eth0up 2y ago

You just kicked at least one elephant in the room, smack in the nads. I sincerely think this is an underestimated issue. It reminds me of the Jewish family afflicted with neurocysticercosis - a disease normally precluded from those not partaking in infected porcine products, but rather normal if the folks handling the food do while neglecting hygiene. I presume grooming, particularly what remains under the fingernails, is the culprit. Tapeworms are quite adhesive. Anyway, if you wish to inflame your cellphone hygiene nightmare, look no further and behold: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199209033271004 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199209033271004

hilbert42 2y ago
Exactly!

maroonblazer 2y ago

I'm not following. You're saying people who spread fecal matter on their phones don't wash it off their phones? That seems hard to believe, if for no other reason that the smell would be repulsive.

Doxin 2y ago
"fecal matter" here is not nuggets of poop smeared on surfaces. It's germs. You generally don't see, smell, or taste them but they can definitely make you sick.
binary132 2y ago
Do you believe that people should only wash their hands after using the bathroom if there are visibly feces on the hands?
- hilbert42 2y ago
  I know that comment is provocation and I should ignore it, but I'll take the opportunity to say that if people exercised a little more hygiene and washed their hands more frequently—especially when leaving the bathroom whether they've feces on them or not—then we'd have considerably fewer cases of gastroenteritis and other communicable diseases in the community. You don't have to believe me, there are thousands of authoritative references on the net and elsewhere that attest to that. I say that not as an obsessive hand-washer or an anti-germ-freak like Howard Hughes but because it's just commonsense. It also comes from being taught as a child both by my parents and at school to wash my hands before eating food and to be hygienic around food preparation such as washing fruit before eating it. That early training has meant that if say I were to sit at the dinner table without washing my hands I'd have a feeling of being dirty and have the urge to wash them. I'm not alone, many others have similar a experience for the same reason. That said, I suspect the percentage ought to be much higher than it actually is (simple observation tells me that). Again, I'm careful but not obsessive about hygiene and I like most others have occasional minor lapses such as eating an apple or picking strawberries from a punnet without first washing them. Nevertheless, I'm aware of the fact and feel somewhat guilty for not having done so. Similarly, I'm always aware of the many almost futile practices people adopt in the name of hygiene. For example, the commonplace and token-like habit of shop assistants with disposable gloves on preparing say bread rolls and then handling money especially so notes (which are particularly dirty and germ-laden) and not changing to a new pair before the next customer (the same can be said about them handling their smartphones at the same time). Long gone are coins with high silver content that were in part self-cleansing (Ag has strong antimicrobial properties). BTW, if one takes the effort to wipe one's phone with a tissue with a few drops of ethanol (or rubbing alcohol—isopropanol for those in the US) on it then it serves a dual purpose, greasy fingerprints are removed and one's screen is clean—and the alcohol kills most of the microbes.
  - 2y ago
hilbert42 2y ago
Bacteria in the invisible droplets from flushing the toilet alone is plenty enough to contaminate your smartphone, big-time. If say you've the highly contagious and all-to-common Noro virus, and even if you've washed your hands thoroughly and then touch your contaminated smartphone you'll go on to contaminate almost every surface you touch, food and everything else. Why don't people still understand this given that it's had such huge airing in recent years (as it's such a significant problem on cruise ships)? That people still don't is the reason why medical and health authorities should be much more proactive in this area.
- maroonblazer 2y ago
  But the bacteria isn't only getting on your phone. It's getting on your clothes and skin and other parts of you that you also come into contact with.
  - hilbert42 2y ago
    Check the YouTube video and my longer comment below.
hilbert42 2y ago
Here's more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHopHBdW2c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHopHBdW2c