Abstract
BackgroundThe present study attempts to identify and determine the pattern of drug susceptibility of the microorganisms present in mobile phones of health care workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs in a hospital environment. Mobile phones of 100 participants including both genders were randomly swabbed from nine different wards/units and the bacterial cultures were characterized using VITEK 2 system.ResultsForty-seven mobile phones were culture positive and a total of 57 isolates were obtained which consisted of 28 Gram-positive organisms and 29 Gram-negative organisms. The predominating organisms were Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus hominis. Among all the isolates from the mobile phones of HCW and non-HCWs, five isolates had ESBL and three isolates had colistin resistance. Incidentally, MRSA was not found on the mobile phones tested. The isolated organisms showed 100% susceptibility to linezolid, daptomycin, vancomycin, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin and tigecycline, while high resistance was shown against benzylpenicillin (75.0%), cefuroxime and cefuroxime axetil (56.5%). Non-HCWs’ mobile phones were more contaminated as compared to HCWs (P = 0.001) and irrespective of individuals’ gender or toilet habits, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms were present on the mobile phones.ConclusionThis study reports for the first time that the mobile phones of non-health care workers harbour more bacterial diversity and are more prone to cause transmission of pathogens. This study can serve to educate the public on personal hand hygiene practices and on maintaining clean mobile phones through antiseptic measures.
Highlights
The present study attempts to identify and determine the pattern of drug susceptibility of the microorganisms present in mobile phones of health care workers (HCWs) and non-Health care worker (HCW) in a hospital environment
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) The AST of Gram-positive cocci (GPC) and Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) from both HCWs and non-HCWs are shown in Tables 3 and 4
It is noteworthy that in the total three E. coli strains isolated, two were non-extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) from non-HCWs belonging to the Gynaecology ward and Surgical ward, while one ESBL strain was from HCW of the Surgical ward
Summary
The present study attempts to identify and determine the pattern of drug susceptibility of the microorganisms present in mobile phones of health care workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs in a hospital environment. Mobile phones of 100 participants including both genders were randomly swabbed from nine different wards/units and the bacterial cultures were characterized using VITEK 2 system. This study was conducted in Mizoram, which is a landlocked state situated in the north-east of India, with unique lifestyle and food habits. The people of this state are known for their regular consumption of boiled and fermented foods and there are strong evidences of the impact of fermented foods on the digestive health such. This study aims to survey the diversity of culturable microorganisms present on mobile phones which can vary owing to differences in hand flora, diet, occupation, habits and health awareness
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