20Jan 2017

BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS’ MOBILE PHONES IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN SAUDI ARABIA

  • College of Medicine, KSAU-HS, Riyadh.
  • Department of microbiology, KAMC-Riyadh.
  • Division of infectious diseases, KAMC-Riyadh.
  • King Abdullah International Research Center,” KAIMRC” Riyadh.
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Background: Mobile phones provide health care workers’ (HCWs) with fast communication and quick access to medical information. Their frequent use in the hospital environment may pose a risk of spreading nosocomial infections. In this study, we aimed to determine the bacterial contamination of HCWs’ mobile phones. Materials/Methods: Samples were collected from mobiles of HCWs’ atKing Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh. A swab takenfrom the mobile phone and a questionnaire was answered by each subject. The swabs were sent to the lab for culture, carrying a serial number to indicate the questionnaire. Results: Of the 400 mobile phone samples, 171 (43%) showed bacterial growth. Different variables were examined. The number of male HCWs sampled was 167, 90 of them (54%) showed positive growth, while only 81(35%) of the 233 samples taken from female participants showed positive growth (p-value= <0.005). In addition, samples taken from phones that are frequently cleaned (226 samples) showed 10% less growth than mobile phones that are not frequently cleaned (p-value= 0.049). The most commonly isolated organism was Coagulase negative Staphylococci, which were isolated from 121(30%) phones of the mobile phones sampled. Discussion: More than one third of the HCWs’ mobile phones were contaminated with bacteria. Our results showed that the degree of bacterial contamination in KAMC-Riyadh is less than studies done in other countries. The most common isolated organism in many of the reviewed studies was methicillin sensitive S.aureus, while in our study it was coagulase negative Staphylococci. Conclusion:More than one third of the HCWs mobile phones were contaminated by bacteria. The results support the claim that HCWs’ mobile phones may serve as vectors for transmission of nosocomial infections, and that cleaning mobile phones may reduce this risk.

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[Fares Almeshal, Feras Asiri, Anas Alyamani, Mohammed Altuwaijri, Sameera Aljehani, Abdulhai Almuhana and Adel Alothman. (2017); BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS’ MOBILE PHONES IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN SAUDI ARABIA Int. J. of Adv. Res. 5 (Jan). 1179-1183] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com

Fares Almeshal

DOI:

Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/2868      
DOI URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/2868

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