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Your mobile phone could possess the flu virus

h4x0rj3ff

Chemist
The flu has been spreading fast across the country this year, with more than half of states reporting widespread activity.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that in fact, this year's flu outbreak is one of the worst in a decade.

Viruses are known to live on inanimate objects like phones, particularly in colder climates and seasons (because heat kills viruses), so we need to be aware of who we share or pass our phone to. With flu season in full swing, it's crucial to keep our phones germ-free.

These days people take their phones with them everywhere they go, from the gym to the bathroom and then to the dinner table and even to bed. Throughout your day, you inevitably shake hands, touch doorknobs and staircase railings -- and then you touch your phone and put it against your face.

Below are tips to help you avoid getting the flu and other harmful germs from your phone:

Try using a Bluetooth device or other hands-free headset, minimizing your keypad-to-face exposure
Wash your phone! If you think it has been contaminated, disinfect your phone. Use a wrung-out disinfectant wipe or spray a paper towel with disinfectant. Don't spray the phone. (Remember that washing your hands and then touching a dirty phone or keypad is self-limiting).
Avoid sick people. If you share your phone with friends or family be careful, you may be sharing more than just your phone, you may be spreading a virus!
Consider getting a flu shot. If you are sick and experiencing flu symptoms, do not share your phone and stay home to avoid infecting others. Keep your germs to yourself.
Wash your hands frequently. Sing a verse from a familiar song (e.g., "Happy Birthday") while lathering and rinsing. Don't rush. If soap and water are not available to wash hands then use disinfectant like hand sanitizer.
Don't
 
mythbusters did a myth about runny noses and how much snot and mucus can get everywhere in a really short period of time. it was pretty disgusting! ill see if its on youtube. i watched it on netflix :)
 
:rofl: Ha!!!

Are the viruses on your phone multiplying so fast that you can see them all moving around? No worries, just take an antibiotic! ;)

Brings a whole new meaning to mobile antivirus apps!

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Brings a whole new meaning to mobile antivirus apps!
You know...out there somebody is installing an antivirus app on their phone, thinking it will ward off the flu. Kinda sad, but you just know it's true!

One thing that the OP failed to mention was that, now that the theory about why more people get sick in the winter has changed from "being indoors more" to "colder and drier", something as simple as using a humidifier can "kill" off cold and flu viruses, as well as keeping your skin moist and supple.

From answers.com: "Use this hand-drying strategy in public restrooms. Studies find a shockingly large percentage of people fail to wash their hands after using a public restroom. And every single one of them touches the door handle on the way out. So after washing your hands, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet. Use another paper towel to dry your hands, then open the door with that paper towel as a barrier between you and the handle. It sounds nuts, but it's an actual recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control to protect you from infectious diseases like cold and flu."

I picked that trick up a very long time ago from people who were actual physicians and surgeons.

One of my pet peeves is when women (or men I suppose) who wear lots of makeup use the phone and don't wipe off all the crud from the handsets afterwards. Nothing worse than putting something to your face only to find out that it's sticky. And what I've seen on computer keyboards...!!! One was covered with some kind of green slime! I replaced with a new one, and came back a month later. The new one had green slime on it! I made sure never to shake hands with the person who used that keyboard...
 
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy does say this about the Golgafrinchans:-

The useless third of the population (consisting of hairdressers, tired TV producers*, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, management consultants, telephone sanitisers and the like) were packed into the B-Ark, one of three purported giant Ark spaceships, and told that everyone else would follow shortly in the other two. The other two thirds of the population, of course, did not follow and "led full, rich and happy lives until they were all suddenly wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone".
 
Think you'd be surprised by just how many germs and amount of filth that a typical computer keyboard is harbouring. In China, many people place a film or membrane over the keyboards, so they don't have to touch them.

We should never have sent the telephone sanitizers away in the B Ark. It's not going to end well...

One of the first jobs I had when I left school was office cleaning, and an important duty was cleaning and sterilising the telephones.
 
Chlorinated cleaners can do lots of damage to plastic phone cases and touch screen protective covers. I wouldn't use anything so harsh.
 
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