Research Article Microbes on the Mobile Phones of Healthcare Workers in Palestine: Identification, Characterization, and Comparison MohammadQadi , 1 RashaKhayyat , 1 MohammedA.AlHajhamad , 2 YazanI.Naji , 2 Beesan Maraqa , 3 Kais Abuzaitoun , 2 Ahmed Mousa , 1 and Maysa Daqqa 1 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, P.O. Box 7, State of Palestine 2 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, P.O. Box 7, State of Palestine 3 Primary Health Directorate, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Nablus, State of Palestine Correspondence should be addressed to Mohammad Qadi; m.qadi@najah.edu Received 6 September 2020; Revised 3 February 2021; Accepted 18 February 2021; Published 26 February 2021 Academic Editor: Gabriele Messina Copyright © 2021 Mohammad Qadi et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Healthcare workers (HCWs) may be using their mobile phones (MPs) to carry microbes that cause hospital-acquired and community infections in general. With antibiotic resistance problem emergence, these infections can be challenging to eradicate. Hence, this study aimed to determine the microbial contamination of HCW MPs and identify and classify bacterial isolates in Palestine. Methods.iswasa7-monthcomparativecross-sectionalanalysisof200HCWMPsfrom2hospitalsand100 MPs from university students (non-HCWs). Data collection was done using a self-administrated questionnaire, and a swab samplefrombothHCWandnon-HCWMPswasobtainedandtransferredtoAn-NajahNationalUniversity(NNU)microbiology lab for bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility. Data were analyzed using Social Sciences Statistical Package (SPSS) version 22.0. Result. Among HCWs, the microbial contamination was 87.5%. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; 67.3%), methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA; 17.5%), Gram-positive bacilli (4.1%), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA; 1.6%), and Gram-negative species (1.6%) were the most predominant bacterial isolates. More than half of staphylococci isolateswereresistanttopenicillinanderythromycin.Malegender,usingamobilephoneinthebathroom,andentry to the operating theatre were associated with mobile phone contamination and increased resistance against specific antibiotics. Among non-HCWs, the contamination was 86%. e most predominant bacterial isolates were CoNS, MSSA, and Gram-positive bacilli, with a contamination of 66.8%, 28.5%, and 2.6%, respectively. No MRSA or Gram-negative species were detected in this group. Antibiotic resistance percentage of staphylococci was nearly half of that yielded in the HCW group against each antibiotic. Conclusion. Significant numbers of bacteria have been isolated from HCW MPs. Working in a hospital environment frequently raises the probability of presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on a MP. erefore, infection control teams should discuss methods to prevent the transmission of drug-resistant pathogens from HCW MPs. 1.Introduction A nosocomial infection (NI) is a severe global problem and contributes significantly to patient morbidity and mortality [1]. Mobile phones (MPs) are essential in everyday life and are carried everywhere and at all times [2]. Moreover, they are always in close contact with the hands and body skin [3]. MPs are also becoming an essential tool in medical practice. First, they are primarily used in communication among healthcare workers (HCWs), making healthcare work more efficient [4]. Secondly, they provide medical information access by asking for consultation and reaching medical references [2]. However, MPs are rarely disinfected and are often touched by HCWs before, during, and after examining their patients without handwashing [3]. Many studies re- ported the colonization of potentially pathogenic organisms Hindawi Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology Volume 2021, Article ID 8845879, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8845879