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Marketplace 'superbug' hotel investigation grosses out CBCNews.ca readers

by John Bowman Posted: November 9, 2012 2:47 PM Last Updated: November 9, 2012 3:05 PM

Categories: Community, Health


Some said the story was valuable information about cleanliness standards in hotels, but others thought the danger from such bacteria, which pose the greatest threat to those with weakened immune systems, is overblown in our story. 

    • "This article is a great Public Service CBC. Thank you to everyone involved for bringing this to our attention. I guess we have to bring our own bottle of Lysol spray?" said KennedySpeaks. 

    • "I disagree, Kennedy. This article (like many Marketplace stories) is scare-mongering sensationalism. How many people get sick from staying in a hotel room? Not a heck of a lot, is my guess. Being exposed to other people's germs is a part of life, folks. Unless you are immune-compromised, this is a non-issue," replied BCgirl99. 

    • "I am normally very critical of the CBC but this kind of investigative reporting is right on. Excellent. Keep it up," said Pollster. 

    • "You guys should also test houses at random too. I'd be willing to bet that the average house has more 'bugs' then the average hotel (the difference being at a level of statistical significance that would likely shock you!). So for the average person it might not be that bad going to a hotel," said fed-up Canuk. 

And CBC Community member brecky wrote this: 

"An old similar report showed that instead of replacing the drinking glasses with clean, sanitized glasses, the cleaning staff was 'wiping' the existing glasses with the same rag they had used to clean the sink & toilet! 

"Hotel comforters in North America are always filthy. They should take a page from SE Asian hotels & ditch the comforters for colorful, narrow bed runners over the clean top sheets that can easily be removed/replaced.

"Most of the cleaning staff in hotels these days are new immigrants who are not given enough time to clean rooms properly. They should not be blamed. It's management's fault for poor training, monitoring, & tight scheduling."


There was plenty of reaction on Twitter, too.




Thanks for following our news coverage on CBCNews.ca and Marketplace. Feel free to continue the discussion in the comments below.


Tags: Canada, Community, Community Reaction, Health