Korean J Nosocomial Infect Control.  2010 Jun;15(1):36-40.

Isolation of Healthcare-Associated Pathogens from Cellular Phones Used by Medical Personnel

• Kim JS
• Kwon OK
• Song W
• Kim HS
• Park JY
• Cho HC
• Lee KM
• Lee HR

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Cellular phone has become a necessary device for communicating in hospitals. Cellular phones contaminated with bacteria may serve as a fomite in the transmission of pathogens by the hands of medical personnel. We investigated the bacterial contamination of cellular phones used by medical personnel in a tertiary hospital.
METHODS
Culture swabs were obtained from 101 cellular phones and 99 anterior nasal cavities from medical personnel using cellular phones. The swabs were inoculated on blood agar, MacConkey agar, mannitol salt agar, and enterococcal broths containing 6microgram/mL vancomycin for 48 h at 37degrees C. The bacteria were identified on the basis of colony morphology, gram staining characteristics, catalase test, coagulase test, and DNase test; Microscan (Siemens, USA) was used for the identification of enterococci.
RESULTS
Of the 101 cellular phones, 13 were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (including 4 methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]), 61 with coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (including 38 methicillin-resistant CoNS), 27 with Micrococcus spp., 11 with diphtheroids, 67 with Bacillus spp., and 4 with viridans streptococci. No gram-negative bacilli were isolated. Nasal swabs yielded 36 S. aureus, including 9 MRSA. Only 1 of 9 cellular phones used by the MRSA carriers was contaminated with MRSA.
CONCLUSION
Cellular phones used by some medical personnel were contaminated with pathogens such as S. aureus or MRSA. Although, the clinical implications of pathogens isolated from cellular phones have not been fully investigated, pathogens could be transmitted by the hands of medical personnel who are cellular phone users.

Keyword

Cellular phone; Hand hygiene; Disinfection; Transmission; Staphylococcus aureus

MeSH Terms

Agar
Bacillus
Bacteria
Catalase
Cellular Phone
Coagulase
Deoxyribonucleases
Disinfection
Fomites
Hand
Hand Hygiene
Mannitol
Methicillin Resistance
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Micrococcus
Nasal Cavity
Staphylococcus aureus
Tertiary Care Centers
Vancomycin
Viridans Streptococci
Agar
Catalase
Coagulase
Deoxyribonucleases
Mannitol
Vancomycin