Keyboard helps fight superbugs

Health chiefs are spending £1 million on the latest weapon against superbugs - "infection-resistant" computer keyboards.

Experts at University College London Hospital have developed a keyboard which is easier to clean than conventional designs.

It also includes an alarm to warn staff when it needs cleaning. It will be rolled out in hospitals across England.

It is hoped the flat silicone keyboards could save the NHS millions in its battle against superbugs and cut rates of MRSA by 10 per cent.

The NHS spends more than £1.6 billion a year on combating superbugs.

There has been a huge drive to encourage nurses and doctors to wash their hands between examining patients but a persistent problem is staff spreading infection by touching keyboards, picking up bacteria and then transferring this to other surfaces.

Research by microbiologists at UCLH has shown bacterial levels on the newstyle keyboards fall by 70 per cent if they are cleaned every 12 hours.

UCLH microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson, who helped invent the keyboard, said: "Doctors and nurses were going from patient to keyboard without washing their hands.

"That's quite understandable because you would wash your hands between patients but not between a patient and a keyboard."

Traditional keyboards are high-risk areas in hospitals because they can harbour bacteria and cannot be cleaned with water or fluids.

Keyboard covers are also to blame for spreading infection because they are rarely cleaned so hospital workers who use them spread potentially lethal bacteria.

The new type of computer keyboard has hidden sensors to make sure its surfaces are cleaned properly with alcohol wipes.

Distributed in the UK by Advanced Power Components, it has incorporated a warning light system that activates every three or 12 hours.

The keyboard is also covered with a hypo-allergenic material resistant to bacterial growth.