A study of microbial flora of mobile phones used by health-care professionals in a tertiary care hospital in North India

Context: Mobile phones give all the advantages to its users but it also acted as a house for harbour the bacteria and causing health hazard that should not be over looked. Aim of study was study the prevalence of bacterial and fungal pathogens on mobile phones and their identification. Aims: 1. To study the prevalence of bacterial and fungal pathogens on mobile phones. 2. Identification of bacterial and fungal pathogens to species level. Settings and Design: The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, N. C. Medical College and Hospital, Israna, Panipat. Methods and Material: A total of 100 mobile phones were randomly sampled with sterile moistened swabs from doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and attendants working in the hospital on the days of sampling. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 20.0 v. Descriptive analysis was done to estimate the percentage of microorganisms and Chi Square test was done to assess the difference in proportions. Level of significance was taken at p<0.05 Results: Total 100 mobile phones of health care professional were swabbed to check microbial flora harboured on mobile phones. Out of 100 mobile phones 79 (79%) were found with contaminated with microbial flora. Conclusions: Mobile phones may act as carrier for cross contamination among patients and healthcare personnel. Simple cleaning with isopropyl alcohol reduced the microbial load of the cellular phones. Hence it is recommended that medical colleges should develop strict guidelines concerning cell phone use and hygiene.