Beware the bugs in your hotel room
Beware the TV remote in your hotel room: It could be hiding a germ factory.
A study on contamination levels in hotel rooms led by the University of Houston, presented at the American Society of Microbiology, reported that two of the most contaminated items in a hotel room are TV remote controls and bedside lamp switches.
Of greater concern, the study said, was that some of the highest levels of contamination were found on items on housekeepers’ carts, such as sponges and mops.
Reuters reported that researchers sampled 18 surfaces in nine hotel rooms in three US states, testing the total levels of bacteria and fecal bacteria on each one. Fecal bacteria was found on 81% of all surfaces.
Among the cleaner surfaces in hotel rooms were bed headboards, curtain rods and bathroom door handles.
Katie Kirsch, a recent University of Houston graduate who presented the study, admitted it had a small sample size, but she hoped it would lead to a body of research that would eventually develop “more effective and efficient housekeeping practices".
Ian Jarrett
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