Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(3): 706-711 706 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.603.081 Mobile Phones in Healthcare Setting: Potential Threat in Infection Control P.C. Ganapathy Shakthivel, G. Velvzhi*, G. Sucilathangam and C. Revathy Department of Microbiology, Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli - 627 011, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Hospital acquired infections are a problem in both developed and developing countries despite overall progress. It significantly increases the patient’s length of stay in hospital resulting in higher hospital costs. Source of infection may be exogenous such as from the air, medical equipment, hands of surgeons and other staff or endogenous such as the skin flora in the operative site, or rarely from blood used in the surgery (Ducel et al.,2002). The hands of healthcare workers play an important role in transmission of Nosocomial pathogens. With recent advances in the source of information, mobile phone use has become indispensible in hospitals (Gurang et al., 2008). The use of cell phones often occurs in hospital halls, laboratories, and/or intensive care units when dealing with severe illnesses. Mobile phones may transmit more than just information in today’s busy hospitals. They International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 3 (2017) pp. 706-711 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Mobile phones are used in close contact with the body and, as for most non-medical electronic equipment, there are no cleaning guidelines available that meet hospital standards, and the hygiene risk involved in using mobile phones has not yet been determined. The present study was undertaken to investigate bacterial contamination of the mobile phones of the healthcare workers employed in a tertiary care hospital and also to assess the usefulness of simple cleaning with 70% isopropyl alcohol for their decontamination. A total of 50 health care workers of a tertiary hospital were selected randomly. Growth of bacteria was identified by studying colony morphology, gram staining and by standard biochemical tests. Antibiotic sensitivity testing of isolates was done by modified Kirby-Bauer method. Mobile phones of the doctors mostly harboured commensal bacteria [Coagulase Negative Staphylococci 3 (30%), Micrococci 5(50%), aerobic bacterial spores 1(10%)] and the mobile phones of the hospital workers mostly harboured pathogenic bacteria Micrococci 3(30%), E.coli 2(20%), Klebsiella oxytoca 2 (20%) and aerobic bacterial spores 1(10%).The isolated Staphylococcus aureus isolates were resistant to Cefoxitin (MRSA).The two Klebsiella oxytoca isolates were found to be multi drug resistant. Mobile phone decontamination efficacy of 70% isopropyl alcohol in our study was about 86.6%. To prevent the potential spread of infections through mobile phones, training of the health care personnel about strict infection control practices, hand hygiene, environmental disinfection and routine decontamination of mobile phones with alcohol should be advocated to prevent the spread of infection in the hospital settings. Keywords Mobile phones, Healthcare workers, Micrococci, E.coli, MRSA. Accepted: 15 February 2017 Available Online: 10 March 2017 Article Info