During the winter months in most of the world, you can see pump bottles of antibacterial gel scattered around most businesses as workers and visitors try to keep their hands free of pathogens. Now, a spate of suspiciously similar news items today are warning that the glass screens on iPhones, iPads, and iPods can harbor bacteria.
While that's kind of a big "Duh!" moment -- after all, who hasn't looked at a smeary iPad screen and wondered what kind of bugs are multiplying on the glass -- British researchers in one study found that mobile phones carry 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a men's room. Ewwwww. For viruses that have taken up residence on iPhone screens, a single touch can easily transfer them to y