• Sacramento Bee, Friday, October 15, 2010 2:04 PM

Can humankind survive the rise of mobile devices?! Along with continued concerns over radiation and the well-documented dangers of driving and texting, touch-screen devices are now being blamed for the spread of stomach-turning germs and viruses. "If you're sharing the device, then you're sharing your influenza with someone else who touches it," Timothy Julian, a Stanford University doctoral student, tells The Sacramento Bee.

According to Julian's study, published online in July by the Journal of Applied Microbiology, the risks of transmitting pathogens from glass surfaces to a person's skin are relatively high. Meanwhile, according to British researchers, mobile phones harbor 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a typical men's restroom. Still, despite the increasing popularity of touch-screen devices like the iPhone and iPad, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict that this flu season will likely be a typical one.

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