Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Associated with Cell Phones of Healthcare Professionals in Selected Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Cell phones may be an ideal habitat for colonization by bacterial pathogens, especially in hot climates, and may be a reservoir or vehicle in transmitting nosocomial infections. We investigated bacterial contamination on cell phones of healthcare workers in three hospitals in Saudi Arabia and determined antibacterial resistance of selected bacteria. A questionnaire was submitted to 285 healthcare workers in three hospitals, and information was collected on cell phone usage at the work area and in the toilet, cell phone cleaning and sharing, and awareness of cell phones being a source of infection. Screening on the Vitek 2 Compact system (bioMérieux Inc., USA) was done to characterize bacterial isolates. Of the 60 samples collected from three hospitals, 38 (63.3%) were positive with 38 bacterial isolates (4 Gram-negative and 34 Gram-positive bacteria). We found 38.3% of cell phones were contaminated with coagulase-negative staphylococci, particularly Staphylococcus epidermidis (10 isolates). Other bacterial agents identified were S. aureus, S. hominis, Alloiococcus otitis, Vibrio fluvialis, and Pseudomonas stutzeri. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that most coagulase-negative staphylococci were resistant to benzylpenicillin, erythromycin, and rifampicin. Eight isolates were resistant to oxacillin, specifically S. epidermidis (3), S. hominis (2), and S. warneri (2). A. otitis, a cause of acute otitis media showed multidrug resistance. One isolate, a confirmed hetero-vancomycin intermediate-resistant S. aureus, was resistant to antibiotics, commonly used to treat skin infection. There was a significant correlation between the level of contamination and usage of cell phone at toilet and sharing. Our findings emphasize the importance of hygiene practices in cell phone usage among healthcare workers in preventing the transmission of multidrug-resistant microbes.

Longitudinal Study of Viral and Bacterial Contamination of Hospital Pediatricians’ Mobile Phones

“…As MPs are not sterile devices and are frequently touched by hands, all those tested in this study were shown to harbour saprophytic skin flora, especially coagulase negative staphylococci, whereas Gram-negative bacteria were far less frequently detected, as already described [ 33 ]. Our investigations focused on some bacteria that were shown to be responsible for severe healthcare-associated infections in French paediatric wards, including S. aureus , Gram-negative isolates [ 23 ] or more recently, S. capitis [ 26 ].…”

Antimicrobial Sensitivity Patterns of Staphylococcus Species Isolated from Mobile Phones and Implications in the Health Sector

“…In Bangladesh, research focused on the presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria on mobile phones of health workers reported that 50% of the S. aureus isolates were resistant to Ceftazidine (14). In a study in Saudi Arabia, bacteria was isolated from mobile phones of health care workers and tested against a panel of 12 antimicrobial agents, only one S. aureus isolate had Vancomycin heteroresistance after sensitivity testing (15). The same study also reported that 38.6% of the cell phones had been colonized…”

Contaminación bacteriológica en teléfonos celulares de trabajadores de la salud en ambiente clínico: revisión sistemática

“…Así mismo, se ha identificado que el interés de los investigadores se ha orientado más recientemente a documentar la resistencia bacteriana a los fármacos de uso clínico. No obstante, esta variable no ha sido documentada en todos los estudios revisados, por lo que se propone para futuras revisiones abordar como eje central la multidrogorresitencia de las bacterias aisladas a partir de teléfonos celulares 48,49 . De igual forma, un elemento que vale la pena explorar en futuros estudios es la presencia de otros agentes tales como virus y hongos, entre otros, que pueden comportarse como patógenos nosocomiales de interés clínico presentes en los teléfonos celulares 10,50 .…”