Molecular Identification and Characterization of Smartphone Screen Associated Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

Mobile phone is a device that keeps in contact with our sensitive body parts including faces, hands, nose, ears, and lips, etc. most of the time. Although we know many bad aspects of mobile phones; we are indifferent to its bacterial contamination. Smartphone screen is an endless reservoir of pathogenic bacteria and works as an object in spreading those bacteria. The purpose of the study was to identify pathogenic bacteria from smartphone screen and finding some common causes of bacterial contamination. So, a public survey was conducted among 100 students from the Dept. of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Rajshahi to know the uses pattern of their particular smartphone. Then, for the lab-based work samples were collected from the smartphone screen of the students by sterile swabs moistened with normal saline water. Among the samples, four strains were selected based on bacterial concentration for further analysis. Out of four, two strains were gram-positive and two were gram-negative. Biochemical tests indicated that all of them were pathogenic and the selected gram-positive bacteria were coagulase-positive Staphylococcus species and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species.16S-rRNA gene sequencing identified the selected two-gram negative strains as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The antibiotic sensitivity test referred that all the bacteria were multidrug-resistant and may be dangerous for compromised immune patients.