Microbial contamination of mobile phones in a health care setting in Alexandria, Egypt

Selim, Heba S.; Abaza, A

doi:10.3205/dgkh000246

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…The use of the BHI, which supports growth of a wide variety of organisms, including fastidious ones in our culture-based assay was crucial to ensure detection of low biomass of microbial contaminants, which might occur due to the prevailing circumstances. Despite the adoption of this approach, our findings remained in keeping with reported literature studies (Selim and Abaza, 2015;Amanah et al, 2019;Jansen et al, 2019;Khashei et al, 2019;D'Alo et al, 2020;Hikmah and Anuar, 2020). As Staphylococcus spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Mobile phones have been described as fomites for the propagation and dissemination of microbes. Indeed, several studies using culture-based methods have described contamination of mobile phones in healthcare and community settings ( Selim and Abaza, 2015 ; Amanah et al., 2019 ; Jansen et al., 2019 ; Khashei et al., 2019 ; D’Alo et al., 2020 ; Hikmah and Anuar, 2020 ; Olsen et al., 2020 ). In this study, our findings from culture-based methods demonstrate a high prevalence of contamination with Staphylococcus spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, mobile phones have been identified as “Trojan horses” in propagating pathogens, including viruses especially during outbreaks and pandemics ( Pillet et al., 2016 ; Amanah et al., 2019 ; Olsen et al., 2020 ). Previous studies on mobile phone contamination have used conventional culture-based methods and reported a preponderance of Gram-positive bacteria in particular staphylococcal species ( Selim and Abaza, 2015 ; Jansen et al., 2019 ; Khashei et al., 2019 ; Hikmah and Anuar, 2020 ; Olsen et al., 2020 ; Qureshi et al., 2020 ). However, findings from a recent study using a 16s rRNA sequencing approach and shotgun metagenomics indicates that mobile phones of HCWs are contaminated with a higher diversity of bacteria than previously reported ( Simmonds et al., 2020 ; Olsen et al., 2021b ; Tajouri et al., 2021 ) with greater abundance of Gram-negative organisms ( Simmonds et al., 2020 ; Tajouri et al., 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Metagenomic Sequencing and Reverse Transcriptase PCR Reveal That Mobile Phones and Environmental Surfaces Are Reservoirs of Multidrug-Resistant Superbugs and SARS-CoV-2

Boucherabine

Nassar

Zaher

et al. 2022

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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BackgroundMobile phones of healthcare workers (HCWs) can act as fomites in the dissemination of microbes. This study was carried out to investigate microbial contamination of mobile phones of HCWs and environmental samples from the hospital unit using a combination of phenotypic and molecular methods.MethodsThis point prevalence survey was carried out at the Emergency unit of a tertiary care facility. The emergency unit has two zones, a general zone for non-COVID-19 patients and a dedicated COVID-19 zone for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients. Swabs were obtained from the mobile phones of HCWs in both zones for bacterial culture and shotgun metagenomic analysis. Metagenomic sequencing of pooled environmental swabs was conducted. RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection was carried out.ResultsBacteria contamination on culture was detected from 33 (94.2%) mobile phones with a preponderance of Staphylococcus epidermidis (n/N = 18/35), Staphylococcus hominis (n/N = 13/35), and Staphylococcus haemolyticus (n/N = 7/35). Two methicillin-sensitive and three methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and one pan-drug-resistant carbapenemase producer Acinetobacter baumannii were detected. Shotgun metagenomic analysis showed high signature of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mobile phone and environmental samples with preponderance of P. aeruginosa bacteriophages. Malassezia and Aspergillus spp. were the predominant fungi detected. Fourteen mobile phones and one environmental sample harbored protists. P. aeruginosa antimicrobial resistance genes mostly encoding for efflux pump systems were detected. The P. aeruginosa virulent factor genes detected were related to motility, adherence, aggregation, and biofilms. One mobile phone from the COVID-19 zone (n/N = 1/5; 20%) had positive SARS-CoV-2 detection while all other phone and environmental samples were negative.ConclusionThe findings demonstrate that mobile phones of HCWs are fomites for potentially pathogenic and highly drug-resistant microbes. The presence of these microbes on the mobile phones and hospital environmental surfaces is a concern as it poses a risk of pathogen transfer to patients and dissemination into the community.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Metagenomic Sequencing and Reverse Transcriptase PCR Reveal That Mobile Phones and Environmental Surfaces Are Reservoirs of Multidrug-Resistant Superbugs and SARS-CoV-2

Boucherabine

Nassar

Zaher

et al. 2022

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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“…In some studies, the authors quantitatively reported contamination as colony forming units (CFU) per square centimeter or per device [ 11 ], [ 28 ], [ 41 ], [ 42 ], [ 43 ], [ 44 ], [ 45 ], [ 46 ], [ 47 ], [ 48 ], [ 49 ], [ 50 ], [ 51 ], [ 52 ]. When these data are combined for analysis, assuming a smartphone touchscreen with an area of 100 cm 2 , a very inconsistent picture emerges.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of microbial touchscreen contamination for the determination of reasonable ultraviolet disinfection doses

Heßling

Haag

Sicks

2021

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Background: Touchscreens are usually microbially contaminated and can therefore act as fomites inside and outside healthcare environments. Due to the increasing use of such touchscreens and the growing awareness of infection risks, approaches that allow safe and automatic disinfection are desired. Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, with its known antimicrobial efficacy, could achieve this goal, but should be executed with limited touchscreen degradation, disinfection duration, and energy consumption. It should also pose as little harm as possible to humans even in case of failure. Materials and methods: A literature search was performed first to identify the microorganisms most commonly found on touchscreens. Then, the 90% reduction doses (D90 doses) for the different relevant microorganisms and UV spectral ranges were determined from the literature, and irradiation doses are suggested that should reduce most of these important microorganisms by 5 log-levels. Results: The most frequent microorganisms are staphylococci, bacilli, micrococci, enterococci, pseudomonads and E. coli with small differences between hospital and community environments, if antibiotic resistance properties are ignored. The determined irradiation doses for a 5 log-reduction of the most frequent microorganisms are about 40 mJ/cm 2 , 80 J/cm 2 , 500 J/cm 2 and 50 mJ/cm 2 for the UV spectral ranges UVC, UVB, UVA and far-UVC, respectively. These doses are also sufficient to inactivate all nosocomial ESKAPE pathogens on touchscreens by at least 99.999%. Conclusion: Disinfection is achievable in all UV spectral ranges, with UVC being the most effective, enabling automatic disinfection within a minute or less. The much higher doses required in the UVB and UVA spectral range result in much longer disinfection durations, with the advantage of a reduced risk to humans. For all kinds of UV irradiation, the doses should be limited to reasonable values to avoid irradiating an already more or less sterile surface and to prevent degradation of touchscreen devices.

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“…Cell phones are devices necessary for both personal and professional life. For health professionals, they can improve communication, promoting collaboration and information sharing 1,2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virulence, biofilm formation ability and antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from cell phones of university students

et al. 2022

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Introduction: Contamination of cell phones can contribute to the dissemination of pathogens in the community and/or hospital environment. Objective: To characterize Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from cell phones of university students. Methods: Samples were collected from 100 cell phones. Detection of genes associated with virulence factors such as biofilm formation (icaA and icaD), enterotoxins production (SEA, SEB, SEC, and SED), and resistance to methicillin (mecA and mecC) was performed in S. aureus isolates by PCR. Typing mecA gene performed by multiplex PCR. Susceptibility to antimicrobials and biofilm formation rate also evaluated by using disk diffusion test and crystal violet staining. Results: S. aureus was present in 40% of the total samples and about 70% of them belonged to Nursing students. Of the isolates, 85% presented resistance to penicillin and 50% were classified as moderate biofilm producers. In addition, 92.5% of isolates contained the gene icaA and 60% of the gene icaD. Approximately 25% of the isolates presented the mecA gene. Typing of the mecA gene showed the presence of staphylococcal chromosome cassette SCCmec I and c III respectively in 20% and 10% of the isolates. 70% of the samples could not be typed by the technique. Regarding the enterotoxins, the most prevalent gene was SEA (30%) followed by the SEC gene (2.5%). The presence of SED and SEB genes not observed in any of the isolates. Conclusion: The cleaning and periodic disinfection of cell phones can contribute to the reduction of the risk of nosocomial infection.

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Microbial contamination of mobile phones in a health care setting in Alexandria, Egypt

Cited by 32 publications

References 25 publications

Metagenomic Sequencing and Reverse Transcriptase PCR Reveal That Mobile Phones and Environmental Surfaces Are Reservoirs of Multidrug-Resistant Superbugs and SARS-CoV-2

Metagenomic Sequencing and Reverse Transcriptase PCR Reveal That Mobile Phones and Environmental Surfaces Are Reservoirs of Multidrug-Resistant Superbugs and SARS-CoV-2

Review of microbial touchscreen contamination for the determination of reasonable ultraviolet disinfection doses

Virulence, biofilm formation ability and antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from cell phones of university students

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