Apparently you shouldn’t eat lunch at your desk

I just did but made sure to keep my food in my Tupperware and washed my hands before eating. Love it when I see these stories and studies trying to panic the masses with bacterial names and how many there are per square inch….

The risk is low.

Brinkwire reports:

See why your desk at work is 400 times dirtier than your toilet
Here’s something that’ll put you right off your lunch.
Your desk at work has 400 times more germs than your toilet, according to a study by the University of Arizona.
And the research also reveals two-thirds of office workers are at risk of making themselves ill by eating at their desks.
Nasties such as e-coli (found in poo), staphylococcus aureus, pseudomonas aeruginosa and helicobacter pylori were among the harmful bacteria found breeding on work desks, the Bristol Post reports .
An average desktop contains 20,961 germs per square inch – not counting the 3,295 on the keyboard, 1,676 on a mouse and a staggering 25,127 on the phone.
Hygiene experts reveal dirtiest place in the house – and it ISN’T the toilet
People in sales and marketing are the worst for cleanliness with over a fifth (22%) admitting that they only clean their desk once a month.
The printer is also a place that could use a good clean; the study commissioned by Printerland.co.uk found that an average office printer contain 1,676 germs per square inch. 
And the office kitchen isn’t much better where 2,483 germs per square inch can be found on the handle of the kitchen kettle in a shared office compared to just 49 found on a toilet seat.
Even the tap – despite being surrounded by water – conceals 1,331 germs per square inch.
Of course you reduce the number of germs on your desk by using antibacterial wipes and sprays.
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Catherine Bannan, HR manager for Printerland.co.uk, said: “It’s pretty shocking that there are more germs on your desk than on a toilet seat.
“But hopefully our visualisation will show people why it is so important to clean regularly so as to avoid getting ill and spreading infections unnecessarily amongst your colleagues.”

Oetzi the Iceman had a stomach bug, researchers say

Oetzi the Iceman, the name given to the frozen body discovered in the Alps in 1991, had a bacterial infection that is common today, researchers said.

Oetzi the IcemanHe had been killed 5,300 years earlier after being struck by an arrow.

The research is published in the journal Science.

This new study suggests he was suffering from an infection that can cause stomach ulcers and gastritis.

A genetic analysis of the bacteria was carried out, helping to trace the history of the microbe, which is closely linked to the history of human migration.

The frozen corpse of Oetzi has allowed scientists to look back at his life in unprecedented detail.

Previous research has revealed that he was between 40 and 50 years old, had brown eyes, was covered in tattoos and had recently eaten ibex.

He was found with an arrow in his left shoulder, and most likely died of blood loss. However he also suffered other medical problems, including heel fractures, arthritis and possibly Lyme disease.

Now, to add to his health woes, scientists have now discovered the Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

The strain that infects Europeans today is thought to be the result of two older strains – one African and one Asian – combining.

Essentially this means infected people from these two areas must have come together and mixed.

However, the microbe found in Oetzi was different.

“We had assumed that we would find the same strain of Helicobacter in Oetzi as is found in Europeans today,” said Thomas Rattei, from the University of Vienna, in Austria, who worked on the study.

“It turned out to be a strain that is mainly observed in Central and South Asia today.”

This suggests that there may have been a wave of people from Africa, who were carrying the bacteria, into Europe at some point after Oetzi’s death.

It adds to the growing evidence that rather than a single movement of humans out of Africa and into Europe, there were several migrations.