Since the health crisis, cleaning your desk before or after each visit has become a reflex. Some places are more concerned with germs.
Going to the office every day involves touch a lot of surfaces that have already been touched by others : door handles, coffee makers, water fountains, or even the communal tables where we sit for lunch with colleagues. Ideal conditions for the development of germs here and there.
According to Gabriela Andujar Vazquez, an infectious disease physician and associate hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center interviewed by the HuffPost, encountering these microbes can expose you to everything, from RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) to the common cold, including E. coli, salmonella, etc. Caution is therefore required, but some places are more likely to have germs than others. Fortunately, it only takes simple actions to protect yourself.
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The desk and the keyboard, breeding grounds for microbes
First candidate: your office. “The office is an open surface that is frequently touchedusually with some pressure to support part of a person’s weight”explains Jason Tetro, host of the Super Awesome Science Show podcast (Spotify). Other people can also touch the tablesuch as the cleaning crew, colleagues or the boss.
If a keyboard is on the desk, it can be a breeding ground for germs. “More than 3,000 organisms can be found per square inch on a keyboard”says Dr. Ron Brown, a 20-year emergency physician and former medical director of emergency medical services for Seminole County, Florida.
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Places frequented by several people are conducive to the appearance of germs
Outside of his personal office, door handles are “by far the dirtiest places in an office due to the number of hands that touch them every day”, explains Dr. Dhaval Desai, doctor at Emory Hospital (Atlanta). This is also the case for elevator buttons which can be affected by hundreds of people. At lunch time, shared microwave and refrigerator are the most vulnerable devices, just like drinks and snacks vending machines, whose buttons are conducive to germs. Some studies also suggest that water fountains are breeding grounds for bacteria. Also be careful in the toilet of the company, which are always busy.
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But the real “Trojan horse” germs, it’s the phone, which we can’t help but take everywhere. Expert advice for protecting yourself from germs in the office is to pass a wipe on your table and keyboard and wash your hands whenever necessary. And above all, avoid taking your phone to the toilet.
Journalist
Passionate about writing, Floréane is interested in a wide variety of subjects. When she is not writing about current affairs, the environment or gender issues, she takes refuge under a blanket…