Renting a hotel room while on vacation? Avoid throwing yourself on the television remote control, this electronic gadget is one of the main sources of bacteria, according to an American study from the University of Houston.
Katie Kirsch, researcher behind this study, and her team took samples from 19 different surfaces of three hotel rooms in three US states, Texas, Indiana and South Carolina.
These analyzes have shown bacterial proliferation in places that are at the very least unusual: if the toilets and the sink are among the most common surfaces. contaminated by germs, the TV remote control and the bedside lamp switch are also crawling with dirt.
Areas relatively free from microorganisms are to be found on the side of the headboard, curtain rods and the bathroom door handle. Not very reassuring.
Room cleaning by staff could therefore be improved in American hotels. “Currently, housekeepers clean 14-16 rooms in an eight-hour day, so they spend approximately 30 minutes per room,” notes Katie Kirsch, on the US site. Time. A speed of execution that does not facilitate the identification of risk areas and optimal cleanliness. Yet by insisting on cleaning these areas, we would effectively reduce the risk of bacterial contamination in hotel rooms, concludes the researcher.
In the meantime, the more cautious will get into the habit of wiping cleaning wipes in their hotel room.
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