What's in your hotel room?

WASHINGTON — Philip Tierno doesn't feel comfortable staying in hotels because he knows too much, according to CNN Travel.

The microbiologist travels with an impervious mattress and pillow cover to protect against the unseen debris that guests leave behind in what he compares to the lost Roman civilization, particles "literally buried over time" in the bed, the article stated.

"What I'm saying is it's not just you in bed, it's who comes after you," said Tierno, director of microbiology and immunology at New York University's Langone Medical Center.

More disturbingly, it's who comes before you, too, the article noted.

According to the article, you can probably imagine what might be lurking in the mattress, but here's a sampling for those who hesitated: skin cells (when humans sleep they shed about 1.5 million cells or cell clusters an hour), human hair, bodily secretions, fungi, bacteria, dust, dust mites, lint, insect parts, pollen, cosmetics ... and more.

Germs also tend to congregate in places touched multiple times by multiple people that may not be cleaned thoroughly, if at all — the interior doorknob, the telephone, the remote control and the alarm clock, the article added.

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