Operating from your innocent-looking computer keyboard could be as bad for your health as eating lunch sitting on the loo. An interesting research has suggested that keyboards may harbor more bacteria than the average loo seat.

The study examined samples from 33 keyboards and found a variety of bugs including E coli and S aureus, which were capable of making people ill and causing variety of skin infections.

“[It] was increasing the risk of its user becoming ill,” said James Francis, the microbiologist who carried out the study published today for Which Computing magazine.

“Most people don’t give much thought to the grime that builds up on their PC, but if you don’t clean your computer, you might as well eat your lunch off the toilet,” Sarah Kidner, the editor of the magazine, was quoted as saying by the British daily The Guardian.

The study, in which more than 4,000 people were questioned, found that 22 per cent cleaned their keyboard and 27 per cent their monitor on a monthly basis. Just over one in 10 said they never cleaned their keyboard, while 20 per cent said they never cleaned their mouse, the report said.

Among the chief causes for such unhygienic surrounding were people eating at their desks, with crumbs lodged between keys leading to the growth of millions of bacteria, poor personal hygiene, particularly people failing to wash their hands after using the toilet.

It was also found that dust with moisture provides ideal conditions for the growth of bacteria.