Prevalence of antibacterial resistant bacterial contaminants from mobile phones of hospital inpatients

Abstract

Mobile phones contaminated with bacteria may act as fomites. Antibiotic resistant bacterial contamination of mobile phones of inpatients was studied. One hundred and six samples were collected from mobile phones of patients admitted in various hospitals in Jazan province of Saudi Arabia. Eighty-nine (83.9%) out of 106 mobile phones were found to be contaminated with bacteria. Fifty-two (49.0%) coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, 12 (11.3%) Staphylococcus aureus, 7 (6.6%) Enterobacter cloacae, 3 (2.83%) Pseudomonas stutzeri, 3 (2.83%) Sphingomonas paucimobilis, 2 (1.8%) Enterococcus faecalis and 10 (9.4%) aerobic spore bearers were isolated. All the isolated bacteria were found to be resistant to various antibiotics. Hence, regular disinfection of mobile phones of hospital inpatients is advised.

Taking Screenshots of the Invisible: A Study on Bacterial Contamination of Mobile Phones from University Students of Healthcare Professions in Rome, Italy

“…All MPs in our sample showed at least some degree of bacterial contamination, different from other previous reports [ 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 ], but in accordance with some other ones [ 2 , 18 ]. This difference could be explained by the technique we adopted, namely standard methods of environmental microbiology, evaluating mesophilic and psychrophilic flora, through the HPC 37 °C and HPC 22 °C [ 25 , 26 , 28 , 41 , 42 ].…”

“…The results of our study showed that the touchscreens of MPs were often colonized by bacteria, including pathogenic and opportunistic species, in line with previous studies on this subject [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

“…In this regard, the infectious potential of telephones was first suggested by Aronson et al [ 11 ]. According to the classification of Earle H. Spaulding, MPs fall into the category of non-critical items [ 12 ]. However, since the hands of HCWs play an important role in the genesis of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), MPs can act as carriers of the hands’ microbiota, thus, representing potential reservoirs for pathogenic microorganisms [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

“…HAIs have increased significantly during the last decades, reaching a pooled prevalence of 7.6% in high-income countries and 10.1% in low- and middle-income countries. [ 3 , 12 , 17 ]. In addition, infections caused by multidrug-resistant staphylococcal and enterococcal strains are a growing problem in many healthcare institutions [ 16 ].…”

High level bacterial contamination of secondary school students’ mobile phones

“…Although in our study an evaluation of the health condition of schoolchildren was not addressed, E. faecalis appeared to be a good environmental contamination indicator. Kumar et al 22 have also found E. faecalis on mobile phones from hospital inpatients and have associated it with possible contamination with intestinal microbes. In our study a similar association between finding E. coli DNA on phone surfaces and contamination with aforementioned potentially pathogenic microbes was not found.…”