Are healthcare workers’ mobile phones a potential source of nosocomial infections? Review of the literature

Abstract

Mobile communication devices help accelerate in-hospital flow of medical information, information sharing and querying, and contribute to communications in the event of emergencies through their application and access to wireless media technology. Healthcare-associated infections remain a leading and high-cost problem of global health systems despite improvements in modern therapies. The objective of this article was to review different studies on the relationship between mobile phones (MPs) and bacterial crosscontamination and report common findings. Thirty-nine studies published between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. Of these, 19 (48.7%) identified coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), and 26 (66.7%) identified Staphylococcus aureus; frequency of growth varied. The use of MPs by healthcare workers increases the risk of repetitive cyclic contamination between the hands and face (e.g., nose, ears, and lips), and differences in personal hygiene and behaviors can further contribute to the risks. MPs are rarely cleaned after handling. They may transmit microorganisms, including multiple resistant strains, after contact with patients, and can be a source of bacterial cross-contamination. To prevent bacterial contamination of MPs, hand-washing guidelines must be followed and technical standards for prevention strategies should be developed.Key words: healthcare workers; mobile phones; bacteria; nosocomial infection; contamination. J Infect Dev Ctries IntroductionThe rapid progress of modern technology has contributed not only to medical fields, but also to the development of technologies for individual use. This technology includes personal computers, pagers, mobile hand-held devices (MHDs) (wireless tablets such as iPad, droids, etc.) and mobile phones (MPs), in which improvements have been made at a staggering speed over the past 20 years [1][2][3]. MPs and MHDs help accelerate in-hospital flow of medical information and information sharing and querying, and contribute to communications in the event of emergencies through their application and access to wireless media technology [1,2]. As technology in this area has evolved, MHDs that provide laboratory and imaging results, patient data, and photographic images are being used by physicians during bedside rounds to engage clinicians, residents, and students. Healthcare workers (HCWs) access pharmaceutical knowledge and literature by MPs and MHDs, which facilitates learning and clinical performance [4,5]. It is possible,

Evaluation of Shift Work on Bacterial Contamination of Cellular Phone of Health Care Staff at Adult Trauma Intensive Care Unit

“…by Selim et al showed the most common microorganisms on healthcare worker's cell phones were MRSA and Staphylococcus coagulase negative (13). Other similar studies also reported Pseudomonas species in addition to previous germs (12)(13)(14)(15). In 2012, Ustun et al reported that among 183 samples that were collected from cell phones of physicians, nurses and laboratory staffs, 179 (97.8%) were contaminated including Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) producing E. coli (11.2%) and MRSA (9.5%) (16).…”

Presencia de microorganismos en teléfonos móviles del personal de cuidados intensivos de un hospital de España

“…En nuestro estudio encontramos que la mitad de los teléfonos presentaron contaminación. Cifras elevadas pero que no alcanzan las mostradas por otros autores como Ulger y cols (5) que alcanzaban hasta el 94,5% o Jayalakshmi y cols (16) con el 91,6%. Sin embargo, estudios como el de Smibert y cols (17) encontraron una contaminación del 7% de organismos multirresistentes implicando una baja evidencia, según estos autores, para el establecimiento de protocolos de limpieza para estos dispositivos en las UCI estudiadas.…”

“…una adecuada higiene, podría actuar como un reservorio para la transmisión de patógenos, encontrando datos muy variables en cuanto a los microorganismos detectados (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) .…”

Infecção na sala de emergência: agentes, fontes e medidas simples de prevenção e controle

“…Ulger et al 6 em estudo recente abordou a questão do uso dos celulares dentro do hospital. Se por um lado, essa tecnologia facilita o fluxo de informação e a comunicação em eventos de emergência, por outro, seu uso pode estar relacionado a infecções hospitalares.…”

“…O uso dos celulares pode, também, ser veículo de bactérias entre diferentes áreas do hospital, como sala de emergência, CTI e unidade de queimados. Em estudos prévios citados por Ulger 6 , a bactéria mais frequentemente relacionada foi Staphylococcus aureus, seguida de estafilococos coagulase negativos. Das bactérias gram negativas mais comuns, Acinetobacter spp.…”