CAUTION: Germs Thrive at Work too.

A study found that a virus went from the front door to half the office in four hours!

In a study researchers contaminated the front door  of an office with a  virus and found it had  spread  to  half the office employees in 4 hours.

Within 2 hours it had spread to the break room – coffeepot, microwave button, fridge door handle and then spread to rest rooms, individual offices and cubicles where it had heavily contaminated the phones, desks and computers. Within 4 hours they found it on more than 50% of commonly touched surfaces and on the hands of about half the employees in the office, many of whom did not even know each other!

Half the employees were then given hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes to use and the level went down from 39% to 11 %.

The human body harbours viruses all the time. The average person has trillions of bacteria and dozens of virus species. Studies at a day care centre found 30 – 40 % of children without symptoms have respiratory viruses on them.

The handshake is a common source of pathogens.

Infecting one hotel room with the virus led to the infection of nearby rooms. Cleaning tools, such as mops and towels spread germs.

Survival of pathogens depend on environmental factors such as temperature, material , metal, and anything with textured grooves or connection points such as keyboard or child’s toys which can harbour dirt.

However, just because you are exposed to a virus or bacteria does not mean you will get sick. Much depends on the dose you are exposed to, whether you have been exposed to the germ before, and your general health conditions.

Beware - ‘The Hand is Quicker than the Sneeze’

• A work space with plastic and formica surfaces and grooved keyboard offers a hospitable environment for germs. 

• Most common respiratory viruses can survive on a surface such as the light switch or the door handle for 2 to 4 days.

• Coffee pot handles are some of the first places the virus spreads to.

• Water  fountains and wash basins can be breeding grounds for  most pathogens as they prefer moist environments.

• Hands …The average adult touches nose, mouth or eyes about 16 times an hour and for children between 2 – 5 years it is as high as 50 times.

• Microbes survive better on  synthetic porous surfaces  of carpeting  and upholstery  than on cotton. 

• Pathogens are readily transferred on stainless steel surfaces while  on copper  they won’’t last for more than a few hours.