A Health Blog reader wants to know how to keep actual germs off their computer hardware—a well-timed question with the swine flu dominating headlines. Clean your keyboard, mouse, and monitor thusly:

Keyboard. You write to your mother with those hands? Keyboards are privy to whatever germs users have picked up throughout the day in the garden, kitchen, or bathroom. Pretty gross, whether or not you share a computer. To clean: First, hold the keyboard upside down and brush out the dust between the keys with a soft watercolor brush or the soft brush attachment to your vacuum. (Note: Do not use a brush on the monitor. It will scratch.) Then, unplug the keyboard and wipe with an alcohol swab, or a lint-free cloth lightly moistened with rubbing alcohol or mild detergent mixed with water.

Consider keeping a dust cover on the keyboard when not in use.

Mouse. Clean the top of the mouse in the same way as the keyboard. If you have a mechanical mouse, the track ball will likely pick up lots of gunk, making the mouse hard to use. To clean: Take out the ball and clean out the debris on the mouse’s inside rollers using a toothpick and cotton swab moistened with rubbing alcohol. Also clean the ball with some rubbing alcohol.