16pc mobile sets contain bacteria

A British study suggests that one in six mobile phones is contaminated with faecal matter.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London took nearly 400 samples from mobile phones and hands in 12 British cities.
They found 16 percent of phones and 16 percent of hands harboured E coli (Escherichia coli), bacteria which inhabit the human intestines.
The largest proportion of contaminated phones was in Birmingham (41 percent) while Londoners were caught with the highest proportion of E coli present on hands (28 percent).
But the sample size in each city was small, so the variations between them could be a statistical anomaly.
However Dr Val Curtis, from the London School of Hygiene says the study showed clear differences between north and south.
“We found the further north we went the more hands and phones were likely to be contaminated. It could be the bugs survive better in colder and wetter conditions or it might be that people wash their hands less.”
Most strains of E coli found on the hands and phones are not likely to cause major ill-health.
Dr Curtis explained that they were using E coli as a marker for the presence of faecal matter.
"Campylobacter and Salmonella bacteria are much more likely to cause a gastric infection and could easily be passed on through faecal contamination," she said.