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Crusader / featurepics.com
Do you really want to touch the remote? A small study of hotel rooms in three states found that the main light switch and the TV remote were two surfaces most contaminated with bacteria.
Next time you enter a new hotel room, you might think twice before touching the light switch or reaching for the remote.
Those are two of the top surfaces most likely to be contaminated with potentially sickening bacteria, according to a small new study aimed at boosting cleaning practices at the nation’s hotels and motels.
Katie Kirsch, a University of Houston researcher, led a team that measured germs on everything from curtain rods to bathroom sinks in nine hotel rooms in three states.
Kirsch came away thinking that the current industry standard of visual assessment -- if it looks clean, it is clean -- isn’t good enough.
“A visual assessment can’t tell you about bacteria and viruses,” she told msnbc.com. “It can tell you what’s on the surface, but not if it’s been disinfected.”
Kirsch, a recent graduate who has also studied subjects like the pathogens that linger on restaurant menus and the cleanliness of public bathrooms, enlisted colleagues at Purdue University and the University of South Carolina. They’re presenting their work Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
The researchers went looking for aerobic bacteria, which include germs known to cause illness, including streptococcus and staphylococcus. They also tested for coliform -- or fecal -- bugs. They swabbed the surfaces, put the samples on ice and then flew them to the University of Houston microbiology lab for analysis.
Top hot spots for aerobic bacteria in hotels turned out to be the bathroom sinks and floors, the main light switches and the TV remotes. The remotes, for instance, racked up a mean of 67.6 colony-forming units of bacteria, or CFU, per cubic centimeter squared.
For comparison, one study of environmental cleanliness in hospitals recommended a top limit of 5 CFU per cubic centimeter squared. Even using Kirsch’s relaxed proposal of 10 CFU, the TV remotes racked up way too many bugs.
The main light switches in the rooms were worse, with a mean of 112.7 CFU for aerobic bacteria. Even the telephone keypad was icky, with 20.2 CFU.
When it came to fecal bacteria, the main light switch was the most serious surface offender, with 111.1 CFU.
That may sound disgusting, but it doesn’t necessarily mean hotel surfaces will make you sick, emphasized Kirsch, who said that her study wasn’t designed to test for the specific pathogens that cause illness. Her supervisor underscored that it shouldn’t keep people from staying in hotels.
“It’s not a scare thing,” said Jay Neal, an assistant professor in the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant management.
Instead, Kirsch was conducting baseline research that she hopes might one day inspire the hotel industry to adopt cleaning and sanitation guidelines invoked through HACCP -- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points -- a protocol already used by food and healthcare industries.
“The study is aimed more toward the housekeeping managers,” she noted.
In addition to checking for the bugs on surfaces in the hotel rooms, the researchers also swabbed for bacteria on the gloves, mops and sponges used by cleaning staff, which have the potential to carry germs from room to room.
Those items were crawling with all kinds of bacteria: at least 500 CFU of aerobic and fecal bacteria on the sponges, for instance.
“When you’re in a hotel room, there’s that stranger factor,” said Neal, noting that no one wants to inherit fecal bacteria from the guy down the hall.
Some hotels appear to be getting the message. Best Western hotels, for instance, just launched a campaign to equip its housekeepers with black light testers to detect unseen bugs. They’re even offering a sanitary wrap for the remotes.
Hampton Inns have launched a campaign emphasizing cleanliness with commercials featuring a hotel guest dressed in a Hazmat suit.
Meanwhile, ordinary guests fearful of hotel germs can take matters into their own hands, said Kirsch, who agreed traveling with sanitizing wipes is an option:
“It would make consumers feel better to wipe down the surfaces.”
Related stories from Vitals:
- Man's microbes help map 'normal' in humans
- Buggy break rooms: Study reveals office ick
- Half of hospital rooms rife with drug-resistant bugs, study finds
CNBC's Jane Wells reports on a new way Best Western is capitalizing on consumer's need for cleanliness.
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It's been suggested to me to not lay on the bedspread either. Apparently, some people may be a little "anxious", if you know what I mean.
I have worked at a hotel for 5 and a half years. The rooms are cleaned well and the housekeepers have very specific instructions for cleaning rooms, down to the number of sprays of cleaning product they use on each surface, especially in the bathroom.
I am still comfortable staying at hotels, even knowing how they are cleaned from the inside.
However, I will say that if you stay at any hotel, you should ask for a clean blanket and bedspread at check in or bring your own.
I love my job, but don't always love the cleaning policies regarding blankets (for the record, that's the only cleaning policy I take issue with). At the hotel I work at, a blanket and bedspread are changed out only if the customer stays a week or longer. You could have 30 different people stay in the same room in as many nights, but the blanket and bedspread will never be changed. Bleh.
Hotels aren't that scary. Be discerning with where you stay and be sure to read reviews before you book anywhere. Most hotels will respond to customer feedback. I know for a fact that my manager discusses specific houskeeping issues with the housekeeper at fault within a couple of days of receiving feedback.
My wife and I have a house cleaning business, and some people's homes, especially people from India, are filthier than any hotel room I've ever stayed in. It would be impossible to do a deep clean for all the rooms in a hotel every day, especially since you germophobes are probably outside screaming at the desk clerk because your room is not done! There are probably more germs on your kitchen sponge or keyboard at home than on the remote control in a hotel room. I've also done vacation house cleaning, and the expectations of people are just out of control. If you are in a hotel/vacation rental, please remember that YOU ARE NOT IN YOUR STERILE HOME, and the people that clean up are doing their best with the resources they are given. If you want it cleaner than it already is, CLEAN IT YOURSELF!!! Also, if you are traveling, please go out and see the sights and stop worrying so much about germs that probably won't make you sick anyway.
Another propaganda from antiseptic company. We need bacteria in our life. Without them we can't build immunity against real threat of malicious bacterial infection. Don't be afraid of bacteria, people. It's like vaccines, some people might develop symptoms but it's not serious and make your body generate a stronger immune system. Stop buying antiseptic products.
What is a "cubic centimeter squared"? How does one square a cube?
Why don't hotels (some do) have sanitizer wipes available like many grocery stores do.
I am surprised we have all lived this long!
What about the underneath side of the toilet seat?
I guessed right. In our own homes, also, remotes are one of the germiest things. I actually cleaned mine yesterday. I wipe them off with a sponge & antibacterial kitchen spray every once in a while. Also refridgerator door handles & telephones are right up there. The writer wasn't trying to put down hotels. it is just a fact. You don't have to go crazy. Just wipe them off sometimes, especially if someone in your home is sick. Another thing I read 80% of shopping carts tested positive for e coli, mostly from babies with diapers & kids probably. Good idea to use the wipes.
Can we cut to the chase and just use a little common sense? People are basically clean, but the public is absolutely filthy and anyone who has anything to do with the public knows this. Basically public service notices remind you that you need to use common sense when confronted with these situations. Hand sanitizer on a kleenex to wipe surfaces before use, clean up after your self and probably after everyone else. Wear socks in a hotel room and steam the showers and tubs before use. A quick trip to the local convenience store can find a small sanitizer to use on surfaces or take it with you, depending on your travel plans. People have too many health issues today to ignore the possibilities of contamination. So people think - than use a little common sense.
Per "cubic centimeter squared"? We have six dimensional hotel rooms now?
When I enter a hotel room, the first thing I do is spray the remote and light switches with with my travel-size Lysol. It makes sense. How often do you disinfect your remotes and light switches at home?
never.
All this brouhaha about where the germs are is ridiculous. Germs are everywhere you can think to look for them, and they always will be. Why get excited because a freshman biology major can culture them from any surface?
And since I don't watch TV I won't worry about the germy remote. There are probably just as many of the same germs on my toothbrush.
There is a new science and health article, that points out that we are in reality a simbiotic parasitic organism, and as some pointed out here, over using bactericides, only endangers US and OUR children more, so a balance is needed, do not take " unnatural course " and in the main you be better off with it!!
The average human body contains over 2 pounds of bacteria at any given moment and if we didn't have them... we would be dead.
i found bed bugs in one of the most exspensive hotels in dallas, tx in 2011. i was really surprised. now i'm afraid to stay in any of them.
No fair, Carol. We need you name names!
Watch what you touch, when you flush!
My company puts us up at Choice Hotels...sigh. Most of the time they are okay. However, I drive between Los Angeles and Washington DC several times a year. NEVER stay at the Tucumcari NM Quality Inn or the Suburban Hotel in Sterling, VA. Both are completely roach infested and the staff just doesn't care.
Good to know--I'll make a point of licking all those germy bits next time.
Next time you (...........fill in with daily chores), you might think twice, because (...........fill in with germ counts).
Thanks to this kind of crap that Americans are being educated to be the next Howard Hughes or Michael Jackson. The truth is human body needs germs to train the natural immune system on how to fight disease. You might want to ask why so many crap articles like this being published. Because good natural immune system is not good for pharmaceutical companies. What really good for them is America that relies everything on drugs. Just think about it, people will pay for something that they can't live without. They can raise the price whenever they want. Rising price of drugs will also raise insurance premium. A circle that never ends.
I rarely wash my hand before eat, I drink tap water, spring water etc and I only had one occasion of food poisoning. And I don't have to worry when I visit third world country. My stomach is trained to fight germs.
Think about that pillow that you lay your face and open drooling mouth on whilst you sleep. You are breathing in oral bacteria just an inch away from your mouth and nose. You may ask yourself, "what was in these person's mouth before they fell asleep?
For me, I could answer, "my GF's beaver!" What would you say, 'muffin butter'?
@ FA TASS...........how does "elixir of life" sound...lol !!
I find it funny when people say "i used to work in a hotel when i was in my teens and..."
How long ago was that...20, 30, 40 years ago? I am sure the cleaning standards of today are WAY better than in the 70's or 80's, especially in our germ phobic society. People are always going to do disgusting things within the confines of their rooms, but i would say the standards of cleanliness have definitely improved over the years.
Germiest hotspots The floor, The bathroom, The walls to name a few.