Rarely washed, frequently shared and constantly touching your mouth, your iPhone could be spreading the flu virus, public health experts say.
But don’t be so quick to wipe it down with strong cleaners, which could ruin the touch screen.
With an early, bruising flu season walloping much of the United States, public health experts are repeating the basics for preventing the spread of the virus: Get a flu shot. Stay home when you’re feeling lousy. Wash your hands frequently. And thoroughly clean the surfaces you frequently touch.
That final suggestion would be especially sound advice for the millions of Americans with iPhones or other smartphones — items that, in the last five years, have, for many, become more indispensible than just about any other object we come into contact with.
But that same gadget — the one that helped you snag last-minute movie tickets and share the adorable video clip of a dancing parakeet — also happens to harbor many of the qualities conducive to spreading viruses and bacteria.
Doctors note that there have been only a few studies of the spread of the flu through phones, and they maintain that person-to-person contact and dirty hands remain the most common ways of spreading the flu and colds.
They also caution that people not share their phones. And they say that picking up a cellphone after, for instance, shaking hands with someone who is ailing, means that the virus or bacteria will have a short hop into your system via the phone held next to your mouth or face.
So even though your phone looks spotless, it may be teeming with pathogens, according to Professor Chuck Gerba, a microbiology professor at the University of Arizona who studies the spread of germs and viruses in homes, workplaces and public settings.
He’s researched cellphones and found that they host disease agents ranging from the flu virus to Norovirus and the dangerous MRSA germ. Out breaks of Norovirus, a highly contagious germ that afflicts cruise ship patrons and school students, has also been plentiful across the country recently.
The real threat from a phone — as with any other surface — is when others come into contact with it, thus providing the opportunity for germs to jump between people.
“If you don’t share it, it’s not much of an issue,” Gerba said of cell phones. “But if you do, we recommend wiping it down with a disinfectant.”
But here’s the rub: phone makers instruct owners not to use strong cleaning solutions, detergents or chemicals, as they could hurt the phone.
On its website, Apple specifically says not to “use window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, alcohol, ammonia, or abrasives to clean” its phones; those substances can damage the screen. Apple says its phones should be cleaned with only a “soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth.”
Samsung, which makes a competing line of touch-screen phones, similarly advises in its owner’s manual not to use “harsh chemicals, cleaning solvents, or strong detergents.” It recommends wiping the phone with a “soft cloth slightly dampened in a mild-soap-and-water solution.”
Neither Apple nor Samsung returned requests for comment.
Other fixes include covering the phone in a plastic cover, which can be cleaned, or expensive UV sanitizers, whose makers claim zap germs.
Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo
Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Raw: German President Welcomes President Obama
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Kid Couture: Spending Big Bucks on Babies
