Abstract
Mobile phones (MPs) of healthcare workers (HCWs) may represent an important source of transmission of infectious agents. This longitudinal study documents the contamination of these tools. Ten MPs handled by senior pediatricians were sampled once a week during 23 weeks in three pediatric wards of the University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, France. Cultures were performed for bacteria and multiplex PCR assays for a panel of respiratory and enteric viruses. A questionnaire on hygiene habits regarding phoning and care was filled-in by pediatricians before and after the study. From a total of 230 samples, 145 (63%) were contaminated by at least one pathogen. The MPs from emergency departments were the most impacted. Viruses were detected in 179 samples; bacteria were isolated in 59 samples. Contamination increased during the winter epidemic peak. A cross-contamination by Paracoccus yeei between hands and MPs of different HCWs was demonstrated. The communication of the study results influenced the hygiene behaviors. This study highlights the contamination of MPs by pathogens that are resistant in the environment, and its sustainability along the winter season. The role of MPs as vectors of nosocomial infection needs to be better investigated.
Highlights
Mobile phones (MPs), routinely used by healthcare workers (HCWs), improve the quality and efficiency of communications in healthcare settings [1], including high-risk departments [2,3]
To the best of our knowledge, studies looking at the co-detection of a large panel of viruses and bacteria on the MPs of HCWs are missing [9]. In this prospective longitudinal study, we aimed to evaluate the contamination by infectious agents of MPs handled by paediatric senior physicians during a 23 week period including the 2015–2016 winter season, together with its impact on the hygiene habits of the paediatricians on care
We focused on the identification the most frequent bacteria described to be responsible for healthcare-associated infections in French paediatric settings, including Staphylococcus aureus, S. capitis, Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas spp. [23,24,25,26]
Summary
Mobile phones (MPs), routinely used by healthcare workers (HCWs), improve the quality and efficiency of communications in healthcare settings [1], including high-risk departments [2,3]. Often carried by HCWs, they can contribute to nosocomial pathogens transfer via hands [4]. Contamination of MPs used by HCWs has been reported with bacteria, including multiple antibiotic-resistant strains [4,5,6,7,8,9]. The risk of MPs as vectors of nosocomial infection exists [5,7], they are rarely cleaned [10,11,12]. The contamination of MPs by viruses has been poorly investigated [9]. The persistence of viruses on surfaces [13,14], on hands [15,16] as well as the transfer from fomites to hands (and vice-versa), has been demonstrated [16,17,18], especially in paediatric wards [12], and has been implicated in the spread of enteric [19] and respiratory viruses [20]
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