Mobile Phones and Multidrug Resistant Bacteria: A Growing Concern for Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Healthcare workers' mobile phones can potentially transmit a range of pathogenic bacteria causing Hospital acquired infections to patients and community. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of bacterial contamination of mobile phones of healthcare workers, assessing the kinds of bacterial isolates, their antibiotic susceptibility and resistance patterns, and the factors contributing to contamination. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Elhwari Nephro Center including 125 health care workers. Demographic data, and data regarding antibiotic usage history as well as mobile cleaning behaviour were collected using a structured questionnaire. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed for all the collected mobile swabs samples. Data analysis using SPSS version 28. Prevalence rates of resistant micro-organisms were revealed together with the corresponding patterns of antibiotic susceptibility. Results are presented using tables for clarity. The overall prevalence of mobile phone contamination was 84% of swabbed samples. The most common bacterial isolate was pseudomonas aeruginosa 21.6% followed by E. coli 20.8%, staphylococcus epidermidis 16.8%, Klebsiella pneumonia 14.4%, staphylococcus aureus 6.4%, and clostridium spp 4%. Most isolates were susceptible to levofloxacin (98.1%), ciprofloxacin (88.6%), and ceftriaxone (84.8%). Vancomycin showed limited effectiveness specifically against staphylococcus aureus with only 13% susceptibility. 86.7% and 71.2% of bacterial isolates were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin respectively. No significant correlation was found between mobile phone contamination and different participant variables such as gender, age, occupation, mobile phone usage and hygiene practices. The overall prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria was 80%. This study points out the scary role that mobile phones play in the dissemination of multidrug-resistant organisms and the urgent need to revisit policies on the use of antibiotics, as well as the reinforcement of antibiotic stewardship.