Keyboard that warns users when it is dirty could banish hospital superbugs

I was doing my daily browsing on the internet and at the same time looking for a topic to post here. I'm a bit techie so I browse for something new about gadgets and technology. And then this article caught my attention, really caught my attention because I use the keyboard everyday and I am not the only one that is using it. I want to share this article for your own safety and health.

Health chiefs are spending £1 million on the latest weapon against superbugs - "infection-resistant" computer keyboards.
Experts at University College London Hospital (UCLH) have developed a keyboard which is easier to clean than conventional designs.It also includes an alarm to warn staff when it needs cleaning.
The flat silicone keyboards will be rolled out in hospitals across England, and it is hoped they will save the NHS millions cut rates of MRSA (MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. See sources below for more information) by 10 per cent.


A red light flashes when the medigenic keyboard needs to be cleaned. This turns off after it has been wiped down
Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson helped develop the keyboard. Just last month he found the average keyboard was five times dirtier than a toilet seat. Swabs taken from office and hospital desks revealed 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria.
"Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you're very likely to pick it up from a keyboard," the professor said.
The NHS spends more than £1.6 billion a year on combating superbugs.
There has been a huge drive to encourage nurses and doctors to wash their hands between examining patients but a persistent problem is staff spreading infection by touching keyboards, picking up bacteria and then transferring this to other surfaces.
Research by microbiologists at UCLH has shown bacterial levels on the new style keyboards fall by 70 per cent if they are cleaned every 12 hours.
UCLH microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson, who helped invent the keyboard, said: "Doctors and nurses were going from patient to keyboard without washing their hands.
"That's quite understandable because you would wash your hands between patients but not between a patient and a keyboard."
Traditional keyboards are high-risk areas in hospitals because they can harbour bacteria and cannot be cleaned with water or fluids.
Keyboard covers are also to blame for spreading infection because they are rarely cleaned so hospital workers who use them spread potentially lethal bacteria.
The new type of computer keyboard has hidden sensors to make sure its surfaces are cleaned properly with alcohol wipes.
Manufactured by American company Esterline and distributed by British firm Advanced Power Components, it has incorporated a warning light system that activates every three or 12 hours.
The keyboard is also covered with a hypo-allergenic material resistant to bacterial growth.

Be sure that you clean your computer keyboard before using it because you might not know what's in between those keys.

Sources:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1026739/Keyboard-warns-users-dirty-ban