de-germing electronics

[Miranda]

Can anyone help guide me to a product that is good/safe, for de-germing electronics? :confused:

I googled that such things do exists. But, am not sure where to continue my conquest from there.

Btw, meaning: cell phones, things w/lcd screens, electronics w/nooks & crannies, etc.

TYIA!
Miranda:)

[drdwin]

I know my "computer guys" use Windex on a soft cloth to clean fingerprints, sticky stuff etc from LCD screens, as far as my cell phone and any other electronics we have around I just use a Chlorox or Lysol wipes and just make sure it's not soaked. I also use those for the phone and keyboards. This practice did not come recommended to me - it's just what I have done and I've never had any problems with things malfunctioning - FWIW

[Maxxxie]

Alcohol will do the trick. Not the drinking kind ;) You can get alcohol wipes at chemists or the local supermarket.

Max

[Tri Girl]

I'm a school librarian and wipe down our computers daily with a clorox wipe. Our IT guy said it wouldn't do any harm unless I got it drenched with liquid. I just do a quick swipe of the keyboard and mouse and on/off button.

[channlluv]

I shut down my machine and use rubbing alcohol on cotton squares and Q-tips to get in the creases. As long as it's not dripping, it's fine. It evaporates fast.

I just wipe the screen with a dampish cloth. I'm not sure what's really safe for the screen.

Roxy

[Miranda]

Thx for those thoughts. I was thinking a clorex wipe would work. But read some google thing it's not ideal for all things.

I was thinking about my cell phone. We have some flu-ish type yuck going on in the house. I've killed a couple phones lately. Just trying not to trash another one. Something like the phone is an easy place to pick up the bug.

Though I think what grosses me out the worst is our hand-scan time clock at work. I have never seen anyone clean it.

Normally I am not a germ-a-phob. But the swine flu has been in our area. With everyone's asthma at home, URIs are not a good thing for us in general.

[OakLeaf]

Good ideas generally. But I don't know why you'd have to disinfect your screen. Unless you're visiting those scratch-and-sniff websites. ;)

I wouldn't worry about your cell phone as long as you're the only one who uses it. Office phones, definitely.

I'm getting paranoid about the swine flu too. We had to get seasonal flu shots at work, which to me is CRAZY since it could possibly increase our chances of getting swine flu, which is the only thing circulating right now.

I've been carrying one of those little 1-oz bottles of hand sanitizer and using it after I touch ANYTHING in a public place. I've been refilling the bottle from my big bottle at home, just about every day.

[drdwin]

I also keep Chlorox wipes in my car - germs can stay on paper for days and I especially use them when I go to the drive through at the bank or other drive throughs for that matter. I'm not a germaphobe either however when my mom got Lukemia 2 1/2 years ago and for a period of months had absolutely no immune system (couldn't even handle raw veggies no matter eat them) - we all became best friends with hand sanitizer and Chlorox / Lysol wipes. (FYI - since Chlorox wipes DO NOT contain bleach they are therefore great for incidental messes on carpets and furniture - they are especially good on rasberries and jello)

[VeloVT]

alcohol wipes.

[Miranda]

Thx for those replies thus far. The swine flu does have me concerned.

It was my sick DS who was using my cell for a moment. Long enough to get some URI crud on the keys/screen. Then it was back to me. The URIs just kill my asthma. Much less the kids.

Both kids get the regular flu shot. And the swine flu form came home from school. None have been given yet. I could not bring myself to sign it. DH was insistent that it's a no brainer. So, he had to sign it. It gives me a really bad vibe.

We are kinda walking freaks of nature with our immune systems in the fm. DS has/had some rare heart diseases that involves the immune system (almost died). And I never get any flu shot because I have a history of Guilian Barre Syndrome (also rare). Which, if you read up on the swine flu, that was the outbreak that occured post shots in the 1970s. Awful experience that still effects my health on-going today (mine was not related to the shot, btw).

So, that's what's making me try to take any extra step I can to de-germ stuff. It sounds like Chlorox wipes are a good bet for the electronics.

I have never used so much hand sanitizer in my life!

[OakLeaf]

Ha, I've got a really bad vibe about the seasonal flu shot. Why in the world are they pushing it so hard - using people's fear of swine flu to make them get shots for something much milder (and make their employers mandate it)? I'd have jumped on the swine flu shot in a minute if it were available. But now that I've had the seasonal flu shot, it seems to me it's an even worse idea to get two vaccines in rapid succession. Ugh.

[ny biker]

Well if you get the flumist form for both vaccines, you're not supposed to get them in rapid succession.

Everything I've read says they're just 2 different flu vaccines. The H1N1 vaccine is made the same way the seasonal vaccines are made every year, it's just for a different strain.

I have asthma so I get the seasonal flu shot every year. I got it for this year a couple of weeks ago. I'll get the H1N1 shot as soon as I can. I found out today that my gynecologist's office has it but only for pregnant women. If they're willing to give the shot to a non-pregnant patient with asthma, I'll go there to get it.

In them meantime I'm trying to avoid other people's germs as much as possible. I managed to ride Metro (DC subway) today without touching anything with my hands, although I had hand sanitizer in my pocket just in case. The local community college holds classes on several of the floors in the building where I work, and I stay away from the students as much as possible.

[Cataboo]

One of the ways that the flu mutates (the primary way) - is that the flu genome is in like 8 different cassettes... When you have one person infected with multiple flus, those flus can intermix their genome/cassettes to form new flus.

I think they're pushing so hard for the normal flu vaccine in addition to the swine flu in an attempt to minimize how much the swine flu can pick up genes from the usual flus... or vice versa... and to prevent other strains from being done.

I've heard it mentioned a couple of times that vaccination with the regular flu shot increases your susceptibility to the swine flu - and I don't understand that statement... how does it do that?

I don't think there's any reason to avoid the swine flu vaccine if you're not one that avoids the normal flu vaccine - same process, different antigens.

My sister's daughter came down with the swine flu last Sunday. She's in 3rd grade and has diabetes type I, so her immune system is somewhat compromised to begin with, and her blood sugar goes out of control during infections. Apparently the Thursday beforehand, 7 kids had been dismissed from her class from being sick & the teacher got sick, on the Friday afterwards, another 9 kids were sent home - the following MOnday there were 7kids in the class, 3 of which had to go home early. My sister & her husband both caught it. My sister's daughter had been complaining of her kidneys hurting and her sugar was bizarrely high, so when she developed a fever - my sister took her to the emergency room, and the 3 of them got tamiflu and her daughter got iv fluids and the rest of that to stabilize her sugar.

I got the regular flu shot a month or so back, and will get the swine one whenever it's possible - mostly to protect some sickly people that I come into contact regularly. I don't want to be the one carrying something that could be life threatening for them.

[Crankin]

I have never been concerned with germs until now...
I had the regular flu shot (CVS was the only place that had the non-Thimerisol kind, since I had an allergic reaction to it when it was in contact lens solution) for the first time in my life. I want a pneumonia shot, but can't find a place to get it without the preservative, so I might have to risk it. I can't find a place to get the H1N1 shot, either, despite the fact I have asthma, although not to the level Miranda has it. But, the only time I had the flu, I missed 5 days of work, had a 104 degree fever for 4 days, and then coughed for about 6 weeks afterwards. I had to stop teaching aerobics for 2 months. I had pneumonia, mildly, 5 years ago, after doing a weekend cycling tour in VT, in cold weather, with a little allergy/cold thing.
I work with psychiatrically impaired clients who have poor health habits. Using my hand sanitizer frequently and washing my hands, too. Most clients are not in the high risk age group, but still. So three days a week, I see them. Two days a week, I use the T to get into Cambridge. It's hard for me not to touch things! I carry hand sanitizer in my purse and use it frequently, like Oakleaf. When I get to my class, i use it again. My classmates are mostly in their 30's-50's, also not high risk. There has been quite a bit of H1N1 in the undergrad population at Lesley U., though.
A good friend of mine just recovered from it, but she is a teacher assistant.
I am most afraid of getting pneumonia after the flu...

[Miranda]

Appreciate everyone chiming in. Those are some stories. I can certainly relate. I did read the other threads about swine flu on here as well. That is an interesting comment about the regular flu shot, and swine flu... that one I need to find an answer too as well.

[OakLeaf]

I've heard it mentioned a couple of times that vaccination with the regular flu shot increases your susceptibility to the swine flu - and I don't understand that statement... how does it do that?

Some preliminary studies have seen a strong correlation (like, double the expected infection rate). They don't know at this point if it's actually causation, or even whether the numbers will hold up - that's why I said "there's a chance that it might." But why take the risk? It's enough for the public health authorities in three Canadian provinces to put their seasonal flu vaccinations on hold (http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58O5ZG20090925) until there's adequate H1N1 vaccine.

[shootingstar]

hmm, last time I had a flu shot was um...maybe 15 yrs. ago. or even further back. Have problems remembering. In past 10 years, the employers whom I worked for, except last one (too cheap they were), they offered flu shots to employees. I never had a shot.

In past 5 years, about every 1-2 yrs., I get a cold where usually I cough alot for a few wks., runny nose and not-high fever for 1-2 days. What has helped most for myself, is simply to rest alot for 1-3 days in bed, etc.

Right now I'm not and haven't been in regular daily and sustained near- contact with many different people outside of home, except breezing by a store (often during non-peak hrs.) to do light shopping or attending 1-3 meetings on weekly basis.

I have gone through 3-5 consecutive years after my early 20's until recently, where I had no cold/fever at all.

Maybe am rolling the dice of luck too much here? The sickest I ever was when I was a child with red measles and later, chicken pox.

[Cataboo]

Some preliminary studies have seen a strong correlation (like, double the expected infection rate). They don't know at this point if it's actually causation, or even whether the numbers will hold up - that's why I said "there's a chance that it might." But why take the risk? It's enough for the public health authorities in three Canadian provinces to put their seasonal flu vaccinations on hold (http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58O5ZG20090925) until there's adequate H1N1 vaccine.

Thanks. It's of course, up to you to decide what's best for your body, and I'm mostly just posting the latter because I'm curious about the studies and how the groups were made:


The only article I found that had more details said:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/23/flu-shots-h1n1-seasonal.html

And to me key was:
Four Canadian studies involved about 2,000 people, health officials told CBC News. Researchers found people who had received the seasonal flu vaccine in the past were more likely to get sick with the H1N1 virus.


I'm assuming that people that regularly get the seasonal flu vaccine generally have a reason for doing so - they're immunosuppressed, they're in public jobs where they deal with large numbers of people daily, or they catch the flu a lot. But I can't find anything addressing how they compared the groups and how they're made up - so whether by comparing people that have had the flu vaccine in the past, they're selecting for a group that is more likely to get exposed to the swine flu to begin with.

The other possible explanation that I can come up with for those results is that generally the flu vaccine does not give you long term lasting immunity against the flu - so if you're getting it regularly, you haven't been exposed to the flu in a long time. And that people who regularly have had the flu over the years actually have long term immunity naturally, and some of this immunity is slightly protective against swine flu.

But either way, by past, I think they mean last year and not that taking this year's flu vaccine will pre-dispose you to the swine flu this year.

[staceysue]

Good ideas generally. But I don't know why you'd have to disinfect your screen. Unless you're visiting those scratch-and-sniff websites. ;)


Why is this making me laugh so hard?

[PscyclePath]

one-quarter to one-third cup of Clorox, Purex, or a cheap, generic bleach in a gallon jug, then fill the rest of the jug with tap water. Use that on a clean wipe to get rid of whatever might be infecting you ;-)

[Eden]

You are not being unreasonable - a survey at the hospital that I work at by the infection control folks found the dirtiest things on the wards were the phones, people's cell phones and other personal electronics, and the computer keyboards. Keyboards now have had covers that can be cleaned and phones, PDA's ect., I think are supposed to be cleaned with something called Lemo-O-Quat. I wasn't able to find it under that brand name, except for industrial purposes, but its a ammonia related cleaner with the same active ingredient as Lysol, but none of the nasty odor....

[colby]

We've used the clorox style wipes on pretty much everything at work. Door handles, keyboards, mice, phones, refrigerator, you name it. I wouldn't use it on my monitor screen, but any normal surface absolutely. :)

[ny biker]

I brought a container of them to the Livestrong Challenge this year so I could clean all the surfaces in my hotel room. Last year the hotel was gross -- sticky refrigerator door handle, smudgy fingerprints on the nightstands -- so this year I came prepared and cleaned everything as soon as I checked in. Including the TV remote, phones and lamp switches.

[deeaimond]

just went to the doc on Monday and talked to him about the H1N1 and flu vaccines, coz i'll be coming to the US for a month, and so i figured i should protect myself against H1N1 or any other flu strain. Not used to the weather, it might make things worse. Out here in Singapore, its rather warm year round, so I think we have a shorter and less deadly flu season.

My doc was explaining to me, that the seasonal flu shots are basically comprised of about 3 different strains of flu. These strains change very often. Almost every year. Thats why people who actually need to take flu shots, need to take them every time the strains change. In fact, he was telling me how, the shots at his clinic are the new batch, came out in September and meant to go through 2010, but he has already received information that the new flu shot will be out in April with 3 new strains...

As for the H1N1 vaccine, we'll need to wait and see when it gets in. And if i'll be in time to take it.

I was kinda freaked though. I wondered if it would do anything to me...