Mobile phones are hazardous microbial platforms warranting robust public health and biosecurity protocols

Microbial laden mobile phones from international conference attendees pose potential risks to public health and biosecurity

INTRODUCTION

Mobile phones, contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms, have the potential to act as "trojan horses". The microbial signatures present on their surfaces most probably vary across different geographical regions. As a result, mobile phones belonging to international conference attendees may serve as a model for global microbial dissemination, posing potential risks to public health and biosecurity.

AIM

This study aimed to profile the microbes present on mobile phones belonging to delegates attending an international scientific conference through use of metagenomic shotgun DNA sequencing.

METHODS

Twenty mobile phones, representing ten different geographical zones from around the world, were swabbed and pooled together into ten geographical-specific samples for high definition next-generation DNA sequencing. WONCA council members were invited to participate and provided verbal consent. Following DNA extraction, next generation sequencing, to a depth of approximately 10Gbp per sample, was undertaken on a v1.5 Illumina NovaSeq6000 system. Bioinformatic analysis was performed via the CosmosID platform.

RESULTS

A total of 2204 microbial hits were accumulated across 20 mobile phones inclusive of 882 bacteria, 1229 viruses, 88 fungi and 5 protozoa. Of particular concern was the identification of 65 distinct antibiotic resistance genes and 86 virulence genes. Plant, animal and human pathogens, including ESKAPE and HACEK bacteria were found on mobile phones.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

Mobile phones of international attendees are contaminated with many & varied microorganisms. Further research is required to characterize the risks these devices pose for biosecurity and public health. Development of new policies which appropriately address and prevent such risks maybe warranted.

Patient-Generated Images in Perianal Disease: An Evolving Tool in Proctology

This article explores the potential benefits and challenges of incorporating Patient-Generated Images (PGIs) into the clinical practice for perianal conditions. PGIs refer to photographs (and video) captured by patients themselves of affected areas of their own bodies to illustrate potential pathologies. It facilitates remote patient assessments and swift evaluation for coloproctologist. They potentially reduce the need for in person follow-up particularly after operation if the patient is asymptomatic. However, concerns with PGI include quality of images, risk of misinterpretation, ethical, legal, and practical problems, especially when imaging private or sensitive body regions. Any platform transmitting and storing PGIs should prioritize data protection with advanced encryption. Comprehensive guidelines should be developed by collaboration between healthcare administrators, regulators, and professionals, and a thorough framework formulated to ensure that quality care is delivered always while respecting patient privacy and dignity. It should be considered as complementary to, rather than a replacement for, traditional clinical consultations. However, patient awareness and education regarding the limitations are key to ensuring that this modality is not misinterpreted or misused.

Finding Candida auris in public metagenomic repositories

Candida auris is a newly emerged multidrug-resistant fungus capable of causing invasive infections with high mortality. Despite intense efforts to understand how this pathogen rapidly emerged and spread worldwide, its environmental reservoirs are poorly understood. Here, we present a collaborative effort between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and GridRepublic (a volunteer computing platform) to identify C. auris sequences in publicly available metagenomic datasets. We developed the MetaNISH pipeline that uses SRPRISM to align sequences to a set of reference genomes and computes a score for each reference genome. We used MetaNISH to scan ~300,000 SRA metagenomic runs from 2010 onwards and identified five datasets containing C. auris reads. Finally, GridRepublic has implemented a prospective C. auris molecular monitoring system using MetaNISH and volunteer computing.

Comparative Evaluation of Microbial Contamination on the Mobile Phones Used by Dental Health-care Professionals versus Faculty of School System

Introduction

Mobile phones are frequently used in environments of high bacteria presence. These can harbor various potential pathogens and become an exogenous source of nosocomial infections. Even in recent outbreak of COVID-19, it has become a point which needs to be sanitized to prevent and control further disease transmission as it is equally important for health-care professionals to use mobile phones in the hospital and other health and care settings, especially for communication. The present study was conducted to determine the potential role of mobile phones in the dissemination of disease.

Objective

To compare the evaluation of microbial contamination on the mobile phones used by dental health-care professionals and faculty of senior secondary school and to access the microbial contamination of mobile phones by measuring the percentages of pathogens and to determine the type of bacteria commonly present on mobile phones. It also assesses the efficacy of 70% ethyl alcohol to be used as decontamination solution.

Materials and Methods

A total of 126 mobile phones were screened in the study; 63 mobile phones belonging to dental health-care personnel from nine different specialties of dental college (Group 1 - test group) and 63 mobile phones belonging to nonhealth-care personnel like school teachers of senior schools (Group 2 - control group). All the samples were taken before and after cleaning with 70% ethyl alcohol. A total of 252 swab samples were taken.

Results

Microbial contamination was approximately 68% in swab samples taken from mobile phones before cleaning with 70% of ethyl alcohol but even with one time disinfection with alcohol, decontamination was found to be only 95% effective. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most common isolated organism in swabs collected from dental college. Pathogenic bacteria were more prevalent in samples of dental college than to school samples.

Conclusion

Ninetythree percentage of cell phones of health-care workers were contaminated and they act as potential source of nosocomial infections. Alcohol should be used to disinfect the mobile phones.

Ultraviolet-C-Based Mobile Phone Sanitisation for Global Public Health and Infection Control

INTRODUCTION

Mobile phones act as fomites that pose a global public health risk of disseminating microorganisms, including highly pathogenic strains possessing antimicrobial resistances. The use of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) to sanitise mobile phones presents an alternative means to complement basic hand hygiene to prevent the cross-contamination and dissemination of microorganisms between hands and mobile phones.

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate the germicidal efficacy of the Glissner CleanPhone UV-C phone sanitiser (Glissner) device.

METHODS

Two experimental trials were performed for the evaluation of the CleanPhone (Glissner). The first was a controlled trial, where the germicidal efficacy of the CleanPhone was evaluated against six different microorganism species that were inoculated onto mobile phones. The second was a field trial evaluating the germicidal efficacy of the CleanPhone on 100 volunteer mobile phones. Efficacy was determined based on colony counts of microorganisms on Columbia sheep blood agar before and after UV-C treatment.

RESULTS

In the controlled trial, reduction in growth was observed for all microorganisms after UV-C treatment with ST131 Escherichia coli showing the highest growth reduction at 4 log10 CFU/mL followed by C. albicans and ATCC E. coli at 3 log10 CFU/mL. An overall reduction in microorganism growth after UV-C treatment was also observed for the field trial, with an average growth reduction of 84.4% and 93.6% in colony counts at 24 h and 48 h post-incubation, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The findings demonstrated the capability of the CleanPhone (Glissner) to rapidly sanitise mobile phones, thereby providing a means to reduce the potential dissemination of microorganisms, including highly pathogenic strains with antimicrobial resistance.

Healthcare Derived Smart Watches and Mobile Phones are Contaminated Niches to Multidrug Resistant and Highly Virulent Microbes

Background

As high touch wearable devices, the potential for microbial contamination of smart watches is high. In this study, microbial contamination of smart watches of healthcare workers (HCWs) was assessed and compared to the individual’s mobile phone and hands.

Methods

This study was part of a larger point prevalence survey of microbial contamination of mobile phones of HCWs at the emergency unit of a tertiary care facility. Swabs from smart watches, mobile phones and hands were obtained from four HCWs with dual ownership of these digital devices. Bacterial culture was carried out for all samples and those from smart watches and mobile phones were further assessed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing.

Results

Majority of the participants were females (n/N = 3/4; 75%). Although they all use their digital devices at work and believe that these devices could harbour microbes, cleaning in the preceding 24 hours was reported by one individual. Predominant organisms identified on bacterial culture were multidrug resistant Staphylococcus hominis and Staphylococcus epidermidis. At least one organism identified from the hands was also detected on all mobile phones and two smart watches. Shotgun metagenomics analysis demonstrated greater microbial number and diversity on mobile phones compared to smart watches. All devices had high signatures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and associated bacteriophages and antibiotic resistance genes. Almost half of the antibiotic resistance genes (n/N = 35/75;46.6%) were present on all devices and majority were related to efflux pumps. Of the 201 virulence factor genes (VFG) identified, majority (n/N = 148/201;73%) were associated with P. aeruginosa with 96% (n/N = 142/148) present on smart watches and mobile phones.

Conclusion

This first report on microbial contamination of smart watches using metagenomics next generation sequencing showed similar pattern of contamination with microbes, VFG and antibiotic resistance genes across digital devices. Further studies on microbial contamination of wearable digital devices are urgently needed.