Patient phones, more germs than staff's

MALATYA, Turkey, May 31 (UPI) -- Patient cellphones are twice as likely as cellphones of healthcare workers to contain potentially dangerous bacteria, researchers in Turkey say.

Researchers at Inonu University in Malatya, Turkey, collected swab samples from three parts of 200 cellphones -- keypad, microphone and earpiece. Sixty-seven of the cellphones belonged to medical employees and 133 to patients, patients' companions and visitors, the researchers say.

The study, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, found 39.6 percent of the patient group phones and 20.6 percent of healthcare cellphones tested positive for pathogens.

Seven patient phones contained multidrug-resistant pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other resistant organisms, but no healthcare worker phones tested positive for multidrug resistant pathogens.

"The types of bacteria that were found on the patients' (cellphones) and their resistance patterns were very worrisome," the authors said. "Some investigators have reported that cellphones of medical personnel may be a potential source of bacterial pathogens in the hospital setting," the researchers said. "Our findings suggest that cellphones of patients, patients' companions and visitors represent higher risk for nosocomial (healthcare-acquired infections) pathogen colonization than those of healthcare workers. Specific infection control measures may be required for this threat."