Background
Mobile phones used by healthcare workers (HCWs) are contaminated with bacteria, but the posterior surface of smartphones has rarely been studied. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of microbial contamination of touchscreens and posterior surfaces of smartphones owned by HCWs.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of smartphones used by HCWs employed at two intensive care units at a Japanese tertiary care hospital was performed. Bacteria on each surface of the smartphones were isolated separately. The primary outcomes were the prevalence of microbial contamination on each surface of smartphones and associated bacterial species. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare dichotomous outcomes.
Results
Eighty-four HCWs participated in this study. The touchscreen and posterior surface were contaminated in 27 (32.1%) and 39 (46.4%) smartphones, respectively, indicating that the posterior surface was more frequently contaminated (p = 0.041). Bacillus species and coagulase-negative staphylococci were isolated from each surface of the smartphones.
Conclusions
The posterior surface of a smartphone was more significantly contaminated with bacteria than the touchscreen, regardless of having a cover. Therefore, routine cleaning of the posterior surface of a smartphone is recommended.
Rabies is a typical zoonosis directly transmitted to neural tissues by bites and shows acute progressive encephalomyelitis due to lyssaviruses. "One Health" is a key word for the control and prevention of rabies. Bats are the principal reservoir hosts for most lyssaviruses, but rabies lyssavirus (RABV) was successfully distributed among the meso-carnivores in the world represented by canids, raccoons, skunks, mongooses, ferret badgers and as much as only bats of the New World. In Japan rabies has not been reported from 1958, except three human imported cases of 1970 and 2006.
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