BackgroundIt is known that mobile phones may play a role in microorganism transmission. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the number of Candida genera/species isolated from samples collected from the surfaces of mobile phones and the hands of the staff as well as the preferred health-related behavior.MethodsThe mycological evaluation included 175 mobile telephones and the hands of staff members at the University Hospital in Białystok, Poland. We used the Count-TactTM applicator, with CandiSelect (Bio-Rad). Self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data on mobile phones disinfection practices. Assessment of the preferred health-related behavior was based on The Multidemensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC).ResultsOut of 175 mobile phones, 131 (74.9 %) were colonized. Candida glabrata, C. albicans and C.krusei were isolated more frequently from the hand as well as phone surface. The mean number of Candida colonies was higher in samples collected from hand surfaces than mobile phone surfaces. No significant correlation was found between the preferred health-related behavior and the frequency of washing hands, the way of using a mobile phone, the number of colonies or the isolation frequency for the fungi collected from the surface of the phones and hands of their owners. Only 19.4 % of the participants cleaned the surface of their phones.ConclusionThe prevalence of mobile phone contamination by Candida is high in the University Hospital in Białystok, Poland. Candida albicans, C. glabrata, and C. krusei were the dominant species in the samples collected from mobile phones and hands. These results pose the need to develop guidelines for mobile phone disinfection.

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Digitization of a health record changes its accessibility. An electronic health record (EHR) can be accessed by multiple authorized users. Health information from EHRs contributes to learning healthcare systems’ development. The objective of this systematic review is to answer a question: What are ethical issues concerning research using EHRs in the literature? We searched Medline Ovid, Embase and Scopus for publications concerning ethical issues of research use of EHRs. We employed the constant comparative method to retrieve common ethical themes. We descriptively summarized empirical studies. The study reveals the breadth, depth, and complexity of ethical problems associated with research use of EHRs. The central ethical question that emerges from the review is how to manage access to EHRs. Managing accessibility consists of interconnected and overlapping issues: streamlining research access to EHRs, minimizing risk, engaging and educating patients, as well as ensuring trustworthy governance of EHR data. Most of the ethical problems concerning EHR-based research arise from rapid cultural change. The framing of concepts of privacy, as well as individual and public dimensions of beneficence, are changing. We are currently living in the middle of this transition period. Human emotions and mental habits, as well as laws, are lagging behind technological developments. In the medical tradition, individual patient’s health has always been in the center. Transformation of healthcare care, its digitalization, seems to have some impacts on our perspective of health care ethics, research ethics and public health ethics.

Introduction: The consistently growing number of mobile phone users has contributed to increasing interest in the effects of mobile phones on human health. Purpose: To assess the preferred health behaviors of mobile phone users. Materials and methods: The study included 175 mobile phone users and used standardized tools, such as the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale and the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI). Results: Most respondents had an impact on their own health (avg. 26.9 points). Respondents showed the highest level of health behaviors in relation to attitude, whereas the lowest level towards health practices. We distinguished three groups in the study population: with high (14.9%), low (47.4%), and average (37.7%) levels of health behaviors. We cannot unequivocally state that there is a statistically significant correlation between the occurrence of certain fungal genera/species on mobile phone and hand surfaces and the health locus of control. Conclusions: The respondents themselves mainly had an impact on their own health, and those in favor of this opinion attached greater importance to washing their hands. Respondents showed the highest level of health behaviors in relation to mental attitude, whereas the lowest level towards preferred health practices. Almost half of the respondents showed low levels of health behaviors, whereas almost every seventh respondent had high levels of health behaviors. No significant relationship was shown between the preferred health behaviors and the frequency of washing hands, the number of colonies and the isolation frequency of fungal strains collected from the surfaces of mobile phones and the hands of their owners.

Introduction: The secretion of hydrolytic enzymes is a factor facilitating pathogenic fungi invasion into the tissues. Purpose: To assess hydrolytic activity and biotypes of Candida strains isolated from samples collected from the surfaces of mobile phones and the hands of their owners. Materials and methods: The study included 175 mobile telephones and hands. The API ZYM test was used to assess enzymatic activity; biotyping was performed according to Williamson’s classification. Results: Among the strains isolated from hand surfaces, the highest activity was shown for C. albicans (acid phosphatase, esterase), C. glabrata (leucine arylamidase, acid phosphatase, esterase), and C. krusei (acid phosphatase). Of the strains isolated from phone surfaces, the highest activity was shown for C. albicans (leucine arylamidase, acid phosphatase), C. glabrata (esterase, leucine arylamidase, esterase lipase), and C. krusei (acid phosphatase). Biotypes G, B and F were dominant for all types of fungi, both for strains isolated from phones and hand surfaces. Additionally, biotype A was dominant for C. krusei. Conclusions: C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. krusei showed activity for all hydrolytic enzymes. The strongest correlation between the hydrolytic activity of fungi isolated from hand and phone surfaces was shown for C. albicans.