EW! Nasty Ass Germs!

Did you really think that by cleaning your cell phone with your shirt or a tissue would completely clean out the smears and dirt on your phone? Wrong!

Dangerous bacteria called staph, which can cause everything from pimples to pneumonia to meningitis.

In fact, the oft-used term “potty mouth” takes on a whole new meaning after finding out that some cell phones are dirtier than toilet seats

A Northern Ireland newspaper today has called for a ban on cell phones in hospitals there, because of the threat of germ transmission.

The Belfast Telegraph said a story it ran about bacteria found on cell phones carried by doctors, nurses, and even patients at Craigavon Area Hospital in Ulster, illustrated the need to keep the devices away from patients.

“Hand-washing must be increased, but until a satisfactory means of disinfecting the handsets is established, the only effective remedy is likely to be a suspension of their use by medics and patients in hospitals,” the paper editorialized.

In the British study, mobile phones were indeed found to be a technological Petri dish for tens of thousands of germs. Germs multiply in warm places, so between the heat the phones generate and the germs on face and hands, you've got yourself a dangerous breeding ground.

The filthiest phones, which can spread the dreaded staph bacteria, get the germs from your hands and face.

University of Arizona Microbiologist Chuck Gerba recently tested 25 mobile phones and found the staph bug growing on nearly half.

One of the results was especially shocking. Gerba picked up a phone and said, "This is the dirtiest phone I have ever tested. (It) has somewhere between 10 and 50 million bacteria… if there is ever a new life form on this plant, it will be on this phone."

If you're ever worried about germs making a home on your cell, you can clean it gently with a towelette dampened in soap and water (make sure water doesn’t lean into any openings) or use an antibacterial spray and wipe dry with a clean cloth.

But if that’s too troublesome for your busy lifestyle, Motorola has come up with a clever tactic. Some of their phones have an antimicrobial coating already on them to prevent bacteria from growing. And to keep germs from spreading, keep your phone to yourself.

Gerba warned, "You are not only sharing phones, you are sharing germs at the same time. So anything that becomes mobile, you take with you or you share with other people… [that’s] the way germs are shared with one another."

By: Cheryl Thomas

-Rei