- Researchers swabbed 140 different areas of a large primary school
- They found chairs had bacteria levels 3 times higher than ‘normal’
- Experts say this could lead to outbreaks of sickness bugs in the winter
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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Primary schools are plagued with high levels of bacteria that could make children ill, scientists claim.
Equipment, chairs and door handles all contain amounts exceeding what is considered normal by health officials.
Experts say this, alongside ineffective hand-washing by children, could lead to outbreaks of sickness bugs in the winter months.
Equipment, chairs and door handles all contain high amounts of bacteria – exceeding what is considered normal by health officials
Rentokil Specialist Hygiene analysed levels of bacteria in a large primary school based in the south of England.
They swabbed over 140 sites before using an ATP bioluminescence reader to measure them.
A reading of over 500 units on an object indicates a high level of contamination, whereas 200 to 500 is considered normal and under 200 is low.
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The top five areas of high bacteria recorded were play equipment at 7,479 units – around 15 times higher than what is considered normal.
Chairs had levels three times higher than normal while door handles were just slightly less.
Researchers also swabbed the hands of 175 children aged between four and ten over the past year.
Experts say this, alongside ineffective hand-washing by children, could lead to outbreaks of sickness bugs in the winter months
On the hands, a high reading is considered to be anything over 2,000 units.
However, the average measurement was 2,283 units. One child’s hands scored 9,999 – five times higher than the amount considered normal.
Luke Rutterford, technical manager at Rentokil, said: ‘Sporadic cleaning, coupled with ineffective handwashing by children, means that bacteria and other microorganisms can be spread more easily between children at school.
‘In the winter months, schools are at an increased risk of Norovirus outbreaks and so it’s even more important that proper hygiene practices are followed.
‘The high readings on the areas we swabbed at the school are cause for concern because there is an obvious risk of cross-contamination from one individual to another, which can lead to infection and sickness outbreak in the school environment.’
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