Abstract
Nosocomial infections are a major concern to both clinicians and health care seekers. Investigations have suggested that laptops & mobile phones may contribute to cross-contamination and can serve as vehicles for infection transmission. Therefore, it is of interest to document the data on hidden reservoirs such as mobile phones and laptops of pathogens in dental settings at the Hazaribag College of dental sciences and Hospital, Jharkhand. The samples were collected from 25 laptops and 25 mobile phones from dentists working in a dental college in Hazaribag city. The samples were collected aseptically using sterile cotton swabs dipped in sterile saline by rotating the swabs on the keyboard surfaces of laptops and mobile phones, inoculated into Brain Heart Infusion broth, vortexed for 1 minute in Fischer Vortex Genie 2 on highest setting & streaked immediately on 5% sheep blood agar plates and were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours aerobically. The isolates were identified based on the colony morphology, colony characteristics and biochemical reactions. The bacterial species isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Bacillus species, Enterococci, Micrococci, and Pseudomonas etc. Predominant species isolated was Staphylococcus aureus and least was Micrococci. Higher percentage of organisms was found at the Department of Periodontics, Endodontics and least was found in Department of Public Health Dentistry. The percentage and type of organism isolated from keyboards of laptops and mobile phones were similar. Thus, laptops and mobile phones act as vehicles for transfer of potential pathogens associated with dental hospitals. Disinfecting the hands prior to examination of patients and disinfection of laptops and mobiles with alcohol wipes should be done to prevent nosocomial infections.
Highlights
Healthcare-associated infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitals
Staphylococcus aureus was present in 22.5% of laptops from Endodontics followed by 21.87% from Orthodontics, 18.75% from Oral surgery and 12.5% from Prosthodontics
This study shows that a proportion of around two third of all the laptops and mobile phones near clinical setup and almost half of those sampled immediately after use were contaminated with microorganisms, which can lead to nosocomial infections
Summary
Healthcare-associated infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitals. The burden of data recording, data maintenance & analysis of data have become very easy with the introduction of multiple softwares in health care sector The usage of these has been very simple & can be operated through laptops & mobile phones. This in turns acts as reservoir for health care associated infections. As mobile phones act as perfect habitat for microbes to breed, especially in high temperature and humid conditions, Health care workers (HCWs’) mobile phones may serve as reservoirs of microorganisms that could be transmitted from the mobile phones to the HCWs’ hands and facilitate the transmission of bacterial isolates from one patient to another in different hospital wards [14]. It is of interest to document the data on hidden reservoirs such as mobile phones and laptops of pathogens in dental settings at the Hazaribag College of dental sciences and Hospital, Jharkhand
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
