PC - Working Places and Conjunctival Germs
Abstract
This study set out to answer the following question: Is it possible to draw conclusions bout workers' hygiene and the hygienic status of the mouse and keyboard from the conjunctival germ spectrum found at personal computer (PC) workstations? To find out, different workstations were investigated: those where the keyboard and mouse were used by only one employee, and those where the keyboard and mouse were used by several employees. The personal information collected from participants included age, gender, number of years working with PCs, use of lenses or glasses, use of eye make up, period of time the present keyboard had been used, frequency of keyboard cleaning, number of employees working at the PC, and history of eye infections. Samples were taken from the conjunctival sacks of every employee as well as from the mouse, the enter key, the e-key, and the return key of the keyboard. An evaluation of the following germs and their antibiotic resistance was carried out: staphylococcus aureus, coagulase negative staphylococcus, and citrobacter freundii. Results showed that the colonization of keyboards by various germs was related to cleaning frequency and number of users. In 50% of the keyboards, staphylococcus aureus was found, in 57% coagulase negative staphylococcus was found, and in 7% citrobacter freundii was found. In 14% of the keyboards more than one kind of germ was found. In terms of cleaning, 46% of the keyboards had never been cleaned, 36% had been cleaned once, and only 18% had been cleaned several times. The results also revealed differences in the germ spectrum found at the keyboards of males and females, and that the greater the number of years a person worked at the computer, the greater the incidence of conjunctival germs. The authors conclude that personal hygiene and frequency of cleaning are important, since they may prevent bacterial conjunctival colonization in PC workers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA438401
Entities
People
- Helga Hahn