Isolation frequency of Candida present on the surfaces of mobile phones and handsx

Bacterial Colonization on Healthcare Workers' Mobile Phones and Hands in Municipal Hospitals of Chongqing, China: Cross-contamination and Associated Factors

Background

Mobile phones are widely used in clinical settings and could be colonized by potential pathogenic bacteria which may lead to hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) transmission. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of bacterial contamination of healthcare workers’ (HCWs) mobile phones, identify bacterial isolates, and assess the factors associated with mobile phone contamination.

Methods

Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the information on the demographic characteristics and the use of mobile phones. A total of 111 HCWs’ hands and their mobile phones were swabbed, then bacterial culture, isolation, and identification were performed. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression were applied to identify factors associated with mobile phone bacterial contamination.

Results

Totally 106 (95.5%) of the 111 mobile phones investigated were contaminated with bacteria. Staphylococcus epidermidis (13/111), Acinetobacter baumannii (4/111) and Staphylococcus aureus (3/111) were the predominant bacterial isolates from HCWs’ mobile phones. Univariate analyses showed that age, gender, profession and the frequency of mobile phone utilization were significantly associated with the number of bacterial colonization. Frequency of phone utilization (OR 8.366; 95% CI 1.496–46.797) was found to be the most significant factors associated with the qualified rate of mobile phones bacterial load. In addition, phone cover using was associated with the increased risk of mobile phone bacterial contamination.

Conclusion

There was cross-contamination between hands and phones. It is necessary to develop guidelines for mobile phone cleaning. Special attention needs to be paid to the disinfection of mobile phone covers to reduce contamination and transmission of pathogens.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44197-022-00057-1.

The Associations between Knowledge and Behaviours Related to Touch Screens and Microbiological Threats among IT Students'

Current issue like the COVID–19 pandemic show how elementary knowledge and hygiene behaviours are important for ordinary people. Microbiological hazards, not just viruses, can be transmitted in various ways through touch screens. For ordinary users, there is a wide range of behaviours that affect the ability to transfer microbial hazards (viruses, bacteria and fungi). The purpose of the paper is to analyse the association between knowledge and behaviour of touch screen users based on surveys. This paper presents selected results of a survey conducted at the end of 2019 (pre–COVID–19 survey). The survey was conducted on a group of 172 IT school students. The relationship between responses using a 2D linear model regression and clustering is used. Most respondents believe that bacteria were more common than viruses on touch screens. The respondents declare altruism in terms of a greater willingness to lend their smartphone, rather than to use someone else’s. An interesting result is that respondents often lend their smartphone to others, while being aware that viruses or bacteria are present on the touch screens. The results can be used in terms of changes in the education process of smartphone users in relation to microbiological hazards.

Microbiological Contamination of Mobile Phones and Mobile Phone Hygiene of Final-Year Medical Students in Uganda: A Need for Educational Intervention

INTRODUCTION

Contaminated mobile phones act as reservoirs for organisms causing hospital-acquired infections (HAI). Little is known about medical school students' awareness of infection prevention and control (IPC) regarding mobile phone use among medical students. We demonstrated the presence of organisms on mobile phones of final-year medical students at Makerere University College of Health Sciences and evaluated their awareness of IPC regarding mobile phone hygiene and use in a hospital setting.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, organisms from swabs obtained from 79 medical students' mobile phones were identified and antimicrobial susceptibility test carried out using standard biochemical tests and the automated BD Phoenix instrument. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire to assess the students' awareness. The analysis was carried out using STATA software version 16.

RESULTS

Seventy (88.6%) mobile phones were contaminated with at least one organism. One hundred forty-eight bacteria were isolated, of which 123 (83.1%) were Gram-positive, 24 (16.2%) were Gram-negative, and 1 (0.7%) was yeast (Candida spp). Coagulase negative staphylococci were the most frequently isolated among Gram-positive bacteria. Acinetobacter baumannii were the most frequently isolated among Gram-negative bacteria. The average IPC practical score regarding mobile phone hygiene (34%) was significantly lower than the average IPC awareness score (77%) (p ≤ 0.0001). Seventy-four (93.7%) students use their phones while rotating in the various wards. Forty (50.6%) of the students cleaned their phones with alcohol-based sanitizer after rotations in the ward. Thirty-five (44.3%) students were aware of IPC programs in the hospital they rotated in.

CONCLUSION

There is a high prevalence of bacterial contamination from mobile phones of medical students. The students had lower IPC practical scores compared to IPC awareness scores regarding mobile phone hygiene irrespective of the ward of rotation. Curriculum of final-year medical students should include IPC-related topics, which incorporate practical skills.

Microbial Incidence and Antibiotic susceptibility for Bacterial isolates in The Mobile Phone of Healthcare workers and University Employments in Basrah City

The mobile phones come to be an important device all people use it for communication and phones can be contaminated with bacterial isolates. this study tries to do a little investigation about kinds and percent of pathogenic bacteria and the detection of some antibiotic resistance one and difference between that found in the healthcare worker’s mobile phone and peoples who work out of that field. Samples collection were done using mobile phones belongs to healthcare workers and Basra University employments. Swabs were cultured on different media then the suspected colonies were identified by recognizing the morphology of colonies, staining with Gram’s stain then tested with biochemical tests. Our study shows bacterial isolates in all the screened mobile phone, The highest proportions were recorded by Bacillus spp (66%) and Pseudomonas spp (56%) while the lowest proportions were Staphylococcus aureus (8%) and Candida spp (12%). And there was a significant difference in the kinds and percent of bacterial isolates between the healthcare workers and employments mobile phones, besides the appearance of Cefotaxime and Cefatizoxime resistance Proteus sp. and Trimethoprim + Sulfamethoxazole resistance Klebsiella spp. also the intermediate susceptibility to the different antibiotic was shown in all isolates. All the mobile phones can be contaminated by various kinds of bacteria some of these were resistant to some antibiotics and there was a significant difference in the percent and kinds of bacterial isolates between the health care worker and people who work out of this field.

The effectiveness of germicidal wipes and ultraviolet irradiation in reducing bacterial loads on electronic tablet devices used to obtain patient information in orthopaedic clinics: evaluation of tablet cleaning methods

BACKGROUND

Electronic tablet devices are commonly used in outpatient clinics to obtain patient information for both clinical and research purposes. These devices are often colonized with bacteria; there are many cleaning methods to reduce this bacterial load.

AIM

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether regular cleaning with either germicidal wipes or ultraviolet (UV) irradiation leads to lower bacterial levels compared with irregular cleaning.

METHODS

A randomized blinded trial was conducted of tablet cleaning strategies between each patient encounter in orthopaedic clinics. The cleaning method was randomized to either germicidal wipes, UV irradiation, or cleaning only when the tablet was visibly soiled. Research assistants (blinded to the treatment) obtained bacterial cultures from the tablets at the beginning and end of each clinic day.

FINDINGS

Using germicidal wipes between each patient encounter vs no routine cleaning resulted in a marked decrease in the amount of bacterial contamination (risk ratio (RR) = 0.17 (0.04-0.67)). Similarly, using UV irradiation between each patient encounter led to significantly lower bacterial contamination rates (RR = 0.29 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.09-0.95)) compared with no routine cleaning. The majority of bacteria identified were normal skin flora. No meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was identified and only sparse colonies of meticillin-sensitive S. aureus.

CONCLUSION

Electronic tablets used in orthopaedic trauma clinics are colonized with bacteria if no routine cleaning is performed. Routine use of either UV irradiation or germicidal wipes significantly decreases this bacterial burden. Providers should implement routine cleaning of tablets between each patient encounter to minimize exposure to potential pathogens.

Contaminación bacteriológica en teléfonos celulares de trabajadores de la salud en ambiente clínico: revisión sistemática

Se realizó una revisión sistemática para identificar microorganismos reportados como agentes contaminantes en teléfonos celulares de trabajadores de la salud, que realizan actividades en ambientes clínicos. Se incluyeron publicaciones entre 2008 y 2018, mediante búsqueda en seis bases de datos usando palabras clave como “nosocomial pathogen” "healthcare workers" y "cell phone", entre otros. Dos investigadores de forma independiente realizaron la búsqueda y revisión de artículos. La calidad de los mismos se evaluó mediante lista de chequeo STROBE. Veintiún artículos fueron analizados. En todos los estudios se identificó presencia de contaminación en los celulares de los trabajadores de la salud, con una mediana de 84,3%, resaltando la presencia de Staphylococcus aureus (85,7%) y Escherichia coli (61,9%). Se concluye que el uso de los teléfonos celulares en ambiente hospitalario por parte de los trabajadores de la salud se constituye en una fuente potencial de trasmisión de microorganismos de interés clínico.

Mobile phones represent a pathway for microbial transmission: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Mobile phones have become an integral part of modern society. As possible breeding grounds for microbial organisms, these constitute a potential global public health risk for microbial transmission.

OBJECTIVE

Scoping review of literature examining microbial's presence on mobile phones in both health care (HC) and community settings.

METHODS

A search (PubMed&GoogleScholar) was conducted from January 2005-December 2019 to identify English language studies. Studies were included if samples from mobile phones were tested for bacteria, fungi, and/or viruses; and if the sampling was carried out in any HC setting, and/or within the general community. Any other studies exploring mobile phones that did not identify specific microorganisms were excluded.

RESULTS

A total of 56 studies were included (from 24 countries). Most studies identified the presence of bacteria (54/56), while 16 studies reported the presence of fungi. One study focused solely on RNA viruses. Staphylococcus aureus, and Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci were the most numerous identified organisms present on mobile phones. These two species and Escherichia coli were present in over a third of studies both in HC and community samples. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Acinetobacter sp., and Bacillus sp. were present in over a third of the studies in HC settings.

CONCLUSIONS

While this scoping review of literature regarding microbial identification on mobile phones in HC and community settings did not directly address the issue of SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19, this work exposes the possible role of mobile phones as a 'Trojan horse' contributing to the transmission of microbial infections in epidemics and pandemics.

Degree of Bacterial Contamination of Mobile Phone and Computer Keyboard Surfaces and Efficacy of Disinfection with Chlorhexidine Digluconate and Triclosan to Its Reduction

The main aim of our study was to verify the effectiveness of simple disinfection using wet wipes for reduction of microbial contamination of mobile phones and computer keyboards. Bacteriological swabs were taken before and after disinfection with disinfectant wipes with active ingredients chlorhexidine digluconate and triclosan. The incidence and type of microorganisms isolated before and after disinfection was evaluated; the difference was expressed as percentage of contamination reduction. Our results confirmed the high degree of surface contamination with bacteria, some of which are opportunistic pathogens for humans. Before the process of disinfection, on both surfaces, mobile phones, and computer keyboards, the common skin commensal bacteria like coagulase-negative staphylococci were diagnosed most frequently. On the keyboards, species of the genus Bacillus and representatives of the family Enterobacteriaceae were abundant. The potentially pathogenic species were represented by Staphylococcus aureus. Cultivation of swabs performed 5 min after disinfection and subsequent calculation of the reduction of contamination have shown that simple wiping with antibacterial wet wipe led to a significant reduction of microbial contamination of surfaces, with effect ranging from 36.8 to 100%.

Genomes shed light on the secret life of Candida glabrata: not so asexual, not so commensal

Candida glabrata is an opportunistic yeast pathogen, whose incidence has increased over the last decades. Despite its genus name, this species is actually more closely related to the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae than to other Candida pathogens, such as Candida albicans. Hence, C. glabrata and C. albicans must have acquired the ability to infect humans independently, which is reflected in the use of different mechanism for virulence, and survival in the host. Yet, research on C. glabrata suffers from assumptions carried over from the more studied C. albicans. Regarding the adaptation of C. glabrata to the human host, the prejudice was that, just as C. albicans, C. glabrata is a natural human commensal that turns deadly when immune defenses weaken. It was also considered asexual, as no one has observed mating, diploids, or spores, despite great efforts. However, the recent analysis of whole genomes from globally distributed C. glabrata isolates have shaken these assumptions. C. glabrata seems to be only secondarily associated to humans, as indicated by a lack of co-evolution with its host, and genomic footprints of recombination shows compelling evidence that this yeast is able to have sex. Here, we discuss the implications of this and other recent findings and highlight the new questions opened by this change in paradigm.