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Cell Phones Causing Skin Infections
Professor Charles Gerba of the University of Arizona is very interested in what's growing on your cell phone, and we're not talking about your bill. He's been testing cell phones and finding that, in general, they're riddled with germs and bacteria that can cause skin infections. In an informal on-the-street test he ran 11 phones through his "germ meter" test, which counted the number of nasties on the phones. Five of the phones failed that test, meaning they had thousands of types of bacteria. Gerba says that isn't necessarily a problem so long as they all come from your own skin. Once you start sharing a cell phone is when things can get ugly.
This isn't the first we've heard of this, so you'd better take some precautions. Take a disinfectant wipe and rub any surface that might come in contact with your skin, making sure you get into the nooks and crannies. But, whatever you do, don't spray it with cleaner: those microscopic electronics inside don't generally like being misted with conductive liquids.
Of course, you could always use an ear piece or BlueTooth headset and keep the cell phone away from your cheeks entirely.
From CNN
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Comments
68
Subscribe to commentskellyJul 20th 2007 11:16PM
Heather, MRSA is a staff infection, it lays dormant in your body and once you get it, it can keep coming back over and over. It can be very bad and some people end up in the hospital on strong antibiotics and it is very nasty when it flares up.
JIMJul 20th 2007 10:53AM
The people that make this shit up must not have a life....what a weird thing to say....I have been using cell phone for about 10 years and not once have I got a damn rash.....ONLY IN AMERICA !!!!!
Jo SousaJul 20th 2007 12:43PM
Remember Phone Booths?
SHANNONJul 20th 2007 1:09PM
I've been breaking out on the side of my face where my cell phone touches with cystic acne..something that just started about a year ago. I wonder if this could have something to do with it???? I don't often share my cell phone, but occasionally....hmmmmm....
richJul 20th 2007 1:11PM
What about a few year back when no one had cellphnes and everyone used the payphones. The media is over reacting as usual. You get more germ by open a public door or going into the mall. No FEAR
richJul 20th 2007 1:14PM
BUNCH OF DRAMA QUEENS
EmilyJul 20th 2007 1:41PM
My cell phone actually did cause my face to break out. I have never had "problem" skin, but for some reason, when I bought a new cell phone a few years back, my face immediately broke out--and the rash on my face followed the exact pattern of the keypad on my phone! This was the first time this had happened to me in about five years of using cell phones. What I wondered was how a brand new phone, which supposedly had never been used before I bought it, could have so many germs or microbes on it that it caused a rash? When I took the phone back to the Cingular store and asked them about it, they pretty much told me there was nothing I could do about it because getting the phone wet or even wiping it with a disinfectant wipe would ruin it. My question: Why wasn't it clean to begin with?
lungmanjackAug 4th 2007 5:36PM
The M in MRSA stands for "methecillin"...a type of antibiotic.