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Did you know that the average mobile phone harbours 6,300 bacteria?

Our smartphones could be giving us coughs, colds or the flu according to health experts.

Phones are almost ideal carriers of disease. We speak into them regularly, depositing microbes via droplets. We often have them with us while we eat, leading to the deposit of nutrients that help microbes thrive.

And although phones are exposed to microbes, most of us carry them wherever we are working; whether at home or in the office. They often provide a temperature-controlled environment that helps pathogens survive, as they are carried in pockets, sat on your desk or in handbags and are rarely switched off. Researchers found that there were 10 times as many germs on the average smartphone as there is on the typical toilet seat.

Think about all the surfaces you touch throughout the day, such as your desk, light switches to TV remote controls to your laptop, printer or monitor. All of the bacteria picked up during your day-to-day activities ends up on your daily dialling devices, and odds are, you don't clean them often or well enough.

Health experts are urging people to wipe their screens regularly with a microfibre cloth and to use a disinfectant wipe on the back of their phones.

And washing and drying the hands regularly is also recommended to help prevent the build-up of germs on our phones. Hand washing with soap and water is not simply a good idea but is something that is essential and should become a regular habit.

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