Published: August 27, 2008 10:06 am      

Cell phone maladies

One of a germ’s hot zones is cellphones. When University of Arizona researchers tested 25 cellphones, 20 percent came up positive for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or more commonly, MRSA.

Think of MRSA as staph on steroids — it’s resistant to most antibiotics and can be deadly if it enters the bloodstream. And even though MRSA usually hides in hospitals, at least 12 percent of the infections in 2005 occurred in the general community, often inside locker rooms.

“When was the last time you cleaned your cellphone? I’m willing to bet never,” says Charles Gerba, Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher and coauthor of “The Germ Freak’s Guide to Outwitting Cold and Flu.”

He said, “These things are very germy, especially the keypads and mouthpieces. Picture it: Every time you dial a number or send a text message, you’re transferring the germs on your hands to your phone and then straight to your mouth.”