Door handle bacteria

Because door handles are commonplace and are interacted with by large numbers of people on a daily basis, they present opportunities for growth of bacterial colonies.

[6] The study was conducted on the university campus, an area fairly dense in population, where many people access the doors, providing a host for the bacteria to travel elsewhere.

[8] Many people may forget the potential for bacteria to thrive on door handles, and after exposure may touch their face, or other places that may lead to ingesting it into their body.

The WPI study used a hidden camera, discovering that 86 of 1,060 people touched their face after exposure with the door handle within 35 minutes.

There are exceptions like MRSA bacteria that can thrive on door handles surviving for days to weeks without any moisture in room temperature.

[11] On the other hand, there are places like ordination rooms and laboratories where bacteria is unlikely to survive, however despite being kept clean and sanitised, there is still a possibility of infective organisms.

[citation needed] Since bacteria likes wet and humid surroundings, the type of the handle – whether it is a lever or a knob – makes a difference.

While door handles are usually made of metal, doorknobs, in the past, tended to be wooden, meaning they can absorb and retain dampness for a longer time making the perfect conditions for germs and bacteria to thrive.

Since the virus is spread mostly by direct contact with an object or surface that has been contaminated by the infection and then touching our face, the everyday dangers are obvious.

The symptoms become apparent a few days after the patient is infected and the following ones are the most recognizable: sore throat, runny nose, cough and sneezing.

[citation needed] Meningitis is the swelling of the membranes around the spinal cord and brain most often caused by viral and bacterial infection which incidentally are the only two types which could be passed through contact with door handles.

[15] It is believed that door handles provide a suitable environment for the disease to spread on, as the virus can survive on these metallic surfaces from 2 up to 8 hours.

[citation needed] The calicivirus, which causes the very common stomach flu, can live for days or weeks depending on the surrounding conditions.