There could be fecal matter in your refrigerator.
That’s right. Fecal matter.
According to a study financed by LYSOL brand products and conducted by the Simmons College Center for Hygiene and Health, 30 percent of dorm refrigerators harbor fecal indicators.
“My roommate brought our fridge from home,” said Su Park, a sophomore in the School of International Service and?an Anderson Hall resident. “She cleaned it before she brought it, I guess.”
Dorm room refrigerator door handles also harbor twice as many bacteria as shared dorm toilet handles, the study found.?
“Oh, disinfect it?” Chris Macdonald, a sophomore in the School of Communication and an?Anderson Hall resident, asked of his own refrigerator. “No, I don’t, but I’m pretty clean. I just have clothes on the floor and stuff;?you can’t get swine flu from your clothes being on the floor.”
However, the study found that not disinfecting surfaces regularly could seriously impact students’ health this flu season.?It specifies that contact with surfaces that are contaminated with the flu virus could account for 31 percent of infection risk.?
Plus, students who touch these surfaces could also be exposed to E. coli, streptococcus, fecal organisms and other harmful bacteria, according to the study results.
William Suter, director of Facilities Management, the department that oversees campus housekeeping, said AU’s cleanliness standards are sufficient for limiting the spread of H1N1.
“All of our normal cleaning protocols deal with the swine flu on surfaces,” Suter said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a list of recommendations for institutes of higher education to implement during this influenza season. One recommendation is for colleges and universities to “provide disposable wipes” for students to use in their rooms on regularly touched surfaces.
AU does not provide disposable wipes but opted instead to install hand sanitizer dispensers in high traffic areas all over campus.
“We haven’t elected to [provide wipes], and I’m not sure how we would make that happen,” Suter said. “Our sense is that anybody leaving a residence hall and entering another campus building will walk by at least two hand sanitizing dispensers. The one outside of the fitness center is one that has seen some of the most use.”
Students who are sick, or have a sick roommate may request through Housing and Dining that their room be cleaned, according to Suter.
“We aren’t flooded with requests right now,” he said. “It’s a very small number.”
If that’s not enough for swine-flu-free peace of mind, Housing and Dining is implementing another recommendation by the CDC: students can be relocated while they or their roommates are sick, according to Chris Moody, executive director of Housing and Dining.?
“The [CDC] guidelines actually say that it’s OK for roommates to continue living together during an illness, as long as they wash hands and practice good hygiene,” Moody said.?“We do have some lounges that we typically use for temporary housing at the beginning of the year, so that if either a sick or well student would like to relocate, we have those ready.”
Only one student has utilized this service so far, Moody said.
“Most students want to stay in their own rooms. They recuperate faster in their own space.”
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
