The Incidence Of Bacteria Known To Cause Nosocomial Infection On Mobile Phones Of Health Care Workers

Abstract

Healthcare workers use the mobile phone in hospital settings is quite newlinenecessary to access quick healthcare services in emergencies, and cannot be newlinerestricted. Mobile phones get contaminated with potentially pathogenic microbes newlineduring patient examination; and can spread potentially pathogenic microbes to newlinehospitalized patients causing nosocomial infections. Healthcare workers regularly newlineuse mobile phones without disinfection in hospital settings. Healthcare worker s newlinemobile phones constantly remain in close contact with their hands and body skin and newlineget contaminated from the patients during patient care and examination. These newlinecontaminated mobile phones cause nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections newlineand transmission of potent microbial pathogens from hands to phones and, newlinepotentially, to patients can be prevented by maintaining proper hand hygiene and newlineregular cleaning of mobile phones with any effective alcohol-based disinfectant. In newlinethe present study, distribution of bacterial contamination on the mobile phones of newlinehealthcare workers were explored; and evaluated the disinfectant potentiality of newlinealcohol-based disinfectant (70% isopropyl alcohol). 220 samples were collected newlinefrom the mobile phone of healthcare workers (Doctors, Nurses, and Nursing newlinestudents). Mobile phones get contaminated by our hands during sampling were newlineeliminated from the study. In the present study, bacterial contamination was detected newline100% of the mobile phones of healthcare workers. The prevalence of bacterial newlinecontamination on mobile phones of healthcare workers with Gram-negative bacteria newlinespecies (75%) was found greater than that of Gram-positive bacteria species (25%). newlineThe most frequent isolated Gram-positive bacteria were Coagulase-positive newlineStaphylococcus aureus followed by Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus newlineepidermidis, and Micrococcus species; while the most common isolated Gram newlinenegative bacteria were Escherichia coli followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, newlineEnterobacter cloacae, Acinetobacter species, Enterobacter aerogenes