Summary Background Mobile smart phones have become increasingly integrated into the practice of doctors and allied medical professionals. Recent studies suggest them to represent reservoirs for pathogens with potential to cause nosocomial infections. This study aimed to investigate the level of contamination on phones used on surgical wards and identify strategies for their safe use within clinical areas. Methods Fifty mobile phones were taken from members of the multidisciplinary team working in a surgical unit. Phones were swabbed by two trained investigators using a standardised technique and samples streaked out using an automated specimen inoculator onto two types of culture media (Columbia blood agar and MacConkey agar). Colonies were identified and counted by a single trained investigator in a blinded fashion. Simultaneously a questionnaire investigating usage levels of phones was given to 150 healthcare workers. Results Sixty per cent of phones sampled had some form of contaminant isolated from their phone. Thirty‐one (62%) of phones had only three colonies or less isolated on medium. No pathogenic or drug resistant strains of bacteria were identified. A total of 88% of individuals sampled by questionnaire used their phone within the workplace of which 55% used it for clinical purposes. Sixty‐three per cent expected there to be some form of contaminant on their phone with only 37% admitting to cleaning it regularly. Seventy‐five per cent of people did not view a ban on phones as a practical solution was they found to be an infection risk. Conclusion Touch screen smart phones may be used safely in a clinical environment, with a low risk of cross‐contamination of nosocomial bacteria to patients, in the setting of effective adherence to hand hygiene policies.

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Purpose Bottled water consumption continues to break records worldwide and its environmental impact is often underestimated by the consumer. Many factors affect individuals’ choices to consume tap water and bottled water including perceived health risks and water quality. The University of South Florida (USF) has joined a nationwide initiative to become carbon-neutral, and reducing bottled water consumption was a chosen strategy. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk perceptions and drinking water choices of the USF-Tampa campus community. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 561 students, faculty and staff members responded to an online survey. The survey contained questions about the use of bottled water and tap water, reusable water bottles, risk perceptions and demographics. Findings The results revealed that certain groups – undergraduate students and ethnic/racial minorities (e.g. black/African American, Hispanic/Latino) – drank significantly more bottled water. Among political ideologies, Liberals drank the least bottled water. Females and minorities had significantly greater risk perceptions of the tap water on campus. Important perceived benefits were tap water being less expensive and better for the environment than bottled water. Important perceived barriers were poor tasting tap water and the desire for filtered water. Originality/value The findings suggest the need for public health campaigns to increase awareness of health, environmental and financial consequences of bottled water consumption. Such campaigns should aim to discourage bottled water and any potential increased sugar-sweetened beverage consumption while promoting tap water consumption.

Climate change is already impacting the North American Great Lakes ecosystem and understanding the relationship between climate events and public health, such as waterborne acute gastrointestinal illnesses (AGIs), can help inform needed adaptive capacity for drinking water systems (DWSs). In this study, we assessed a harmonized binational dataset for the effects of extreme precipitation events (≥90th percentile) and preceding dry periods, source water turbidity, total coliforms, and protozoan AGI – cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis – in the populations served by four DWSs that source surface water from Lake Ontario (Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Lake Michigan (Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) from January 2009 through August 2014. We used distributed lag non-linear Poisson regression models adjusted for seasonality and found extreme precipitation weeks preceded by dry periods increased the relative risk of protozoan AGI after 1 and 3–5 weeks in three of the four cities, although only statistically significant in two. Our results suggest that the risk of protozoan AGI increases with extreme precipitation preceded by a dry period. As extreme precipitation patterns become more frequent with climate change, the ability to detect changes in water quality and effectively treat source water of varying quality is increasingly important for adaptive capacity and protection of public health.