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Comment by burgerzzz | Hacker News Reader

I would avoid it just because of all of the various fingers that have touched it before me.

I don't like touching the screens either.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/28/poo-found-on-every-mcdonalds-...

Traces of faeces have been found on every single McDonald’s touchscreen swabbed in an investigation by metro.co.uk. Samples were taken from the new machines that have been rolled out at restaurants across the country – every one of them had coliforms.

Senior lecturer in microbiology at London Metropolitan University Dr Paul Matewele said: ‘We were all surprised how much gut and faecal bacteria there was on the touchscreen machines. These cause the kind of infections that people pick up in hospitals.

> Traces of faeces have been found on every single McDonald’s touchscreen swabbed in an investigation by metro.co.uk. Samples were taken from the new machines that have been rolled out at restaurants across the country – every one of them had coliforms.

Did they swab the food bags and food that came out as well? Poo particles are probably everywhere.

I think I've heard this ("there's poop on it") about everything. Keyboards, doorknobs, kitchen sinks, toothbrushes, etc.

Either it's simply not true, or it is true and it doesn't matter.

I think it's true, but you have an immune system that makes this largely irrelevant.

Isn't this the result whenever someone investigates any surface people touch? Not everyone washes their hands, but everyone poops. The result is sadly predictable.

You mean...like the doorknobs?

If you make doorknobs out of brass, they might still get poop on them, but many types of bacteria and viruses can’t survive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial_properties_of_co...

Maybe we can start making public touchscreens out of brass...

Ok, but most doorknobs aren't brass.

How many doorknobs do you typically touch outside of your home a day? Most doors here are automatic. Plus, I would be reluctant to use someone else's keyboard at work, even.

But...why? Do you have an autoimmune disorder? Generally find yourself especially vulnerable to the errant bug? How do you feel when you breath in someone's fart? You're a walking bag of mud expressing discomfort at other bits of mud in the world. One bit in a million might be annoying. One in a billion actually painful.

What about the money in your wallet, and the change returned to you when you pay? None of it is hygienic.

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