Friday, July 13, 2007

A Dirty Little Secret

After seeing a patient today, I looked and looked for a computer terminal on which to write my consult. Most of them were used, but I finally found this one and had to do a double-take when I saw this mouse on the desktop next to a little coffee stain.

Sorry about the quality - Shot from my Treo 680 cameraphone.
I quickly looked down at my tie and decided my tie was cleaner.

Although I did not send this instrument for culture, it would have been interesting to see what little critters resided on this computer peripheral...

And yes, I went right ahead and used the terminal, but washed my hands afterward.

-Wes

Addendum: Seems there's an answer to everything... (Hat Tip: the WSJ).
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2 comments:

  1. Dr. DebFri Jul 13, 07:29:00 PM CDT

    I'd have done the same thing. Used it and then washed my hands. However, I would have then needed to buy a new mouse. My OCD can be a financial burden sometimes.

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  2. Margaret Polaneczky, MD (aka TBTAM)Fri Jul 13, 07:32:00 PM CDT

    I really wonder with all this electronic medical record stuff, just how many germs we are leaving on our keyboards. They say wash before and after each patient, I wonder if it should be wash before and after each computer entry...

    There's an idea for a money-making product - an antibacterial keyboard spray that won't damage the computer but will get all those germs.

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