Mind your phone - it could make you sick

DO we realise that one of the dirtiest objects we have in our midst is also our prized possession – our mobile phone?

Nobody disagrees that it is an integral part of our lives. Just think of the time when it conked out or was lost or misplaced. You get what I mean?

We willingly cough out a lot of money to get our favourite make and model. Then we shield it with shock-proof covers and tempered glass screen protector. We also install anti-virus software. In short, we will do whatever is needed to protect our phone so that it will not fail us.

But our mobile phones may fail us by making us sick. Not many people realise that it is like a trojan horse, harbouring zillions of microbes (bacteria, viruses, germs, fungi etc).

These freeloaders hop onto the phone in countless ways:

1. When someone borrows it to make a call and invariably coats it with his/her saliva droplets;

2. When the phone is placed on a dirty table top;

3. When someone else takes a picture with your phone at your behest and leaves his/her imprints on it; or

4. When you swipe your phone while taking a toilet break (and God forbid, when you accidentally drop it on the toilet floor, pick it up and rub it nonchalantly against your pants).

We toss our phone into our pockets, backpacks, handbags and anywhere else where it is exposed to other dust and grime.

From the phone, the microbes enter our mouth, nose and eyes when we use our contaminated fingers to touch our face. And then we wonder how we got sick! Rarely would anyone suspect the mobile phone as a “carrier” of germs and bacteria.

We bath or shower daily, mop our floors weekly and wash our cars fortnightly. But how many of us sanitise our phones daily?

At the height of the Covid-19 epidemic, some of us may have sanitised all sorts of things, including our mobile phone and credit cards. But since we have accepted that Covid-19 is here to stay, we have become lazy and dropped most of these sanitising practices. We have become complacent or not so vigilant in maintaining the cleanliness of our mobile phone.

When was the last time you cleaned yours? I’m sure many of us don’t remember.

Shouldn’t we resume this good habit of sanitising our phones thoroughly on a regular basis?

We need to make a conscious effort to wash our hands with soap after handling the phone and totally refrain from bringing it into the toilet. Also, every other month, we should remove the phone’s protective cover to give it a good wipe inside. You will be shocked by the amount of junk that gets accumulated inside.

DR POLA SINGH

Kuala Lumpur