ArticleTropical medicine and health2019
Bacterial contamination of mobile phones of health professionals in Eastern Ethiopia: antimicrobial susceptibility and associated factors.
Article in Tropical medicine and health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bacterial Pathogens and Their Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Inanimate Surfaces and Equipment in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.BioMed research international · 2021Pooled it
- Mobile phone bacterial contamination among students and staff at Haramaya University, Eastern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.Medicine · 2026Article
- Multidrug-resistant bacterial contamination of healthcare workers' mobile phones, decontamination efficacy, and potential implications for hospital-acquired infections.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- High efficiency of 70% isopropanol in reducing microbial contamination on healthcare workers' smartphone surfaces: a pre-post study in Peru.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Assessment of microbial contamination of mobile phones among medical staff, students, and visitors in a pediatric hematology-oncology ward and its relationship with infections among pediatric patients.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2026Article
- Corrigendum to "Multidrug resistance from a one health perspective in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of literatures (2015-2020)" [One Health 14(2022) 1-12/100390].One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Extended spectrum betalactamase and carbapenemase producing gram negative bacteria from mobile phones of healthcare workers at Debre Berhan Hospital, Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
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- Exploring Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacteria on Electronic Devices: A Comparative Experimental Study Based on the Gender of Healthcare and Nonhealthcare Workers.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2025Article
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- Bacterial contamination of healthcare workers' mobile phones in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Tropical medicine and health · 2023Article
- Bacterial Contamination of Healthcare Students' Mobile Phones: Impact of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), Users' Demographics and Device Characteristics on Bacterial Load.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Contamination by Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria on Cell Phones of Vendors in a Peruvian Market.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
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- Mobile Phones: Reservoirs of Resistant Bacteria during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Role of Mobile Phone Use in Spreading Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria Implicated in Causation of Diarrheal and Nosocomial Infections at Kitale County Hospital.The East African health research journal · 2023Article
- Bacterial Colonization on Healthcare Workers' Mobile Phones and Hands in Municipal Hospitals of Chongqing, China: Cross-contamination and Associated Factors.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2022Article
- Fungal contamination of medical students' mobile phones from the University of Belgrade, Serbia: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns of ESEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMobile phones of health care professionals could harbor microbes which cause nosocomial infections to the patient, family members, and the community at large. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of bacterial contamination of the mobile phones of health professionals, identify bacterial isolates, assess their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and define the associated factors.
methodA cross-sectional study was conducted from February to March 2018 on 226 health professionals' mobile phones which were selected by a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. A swab sample from each of health professional's mobile phone device was collected and transported to the microbiology laboratory for bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program version 20.
resultThe overall prevalence of mobile phone contamination with one or more bacteria was 94.2%. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; 58.8%),
conclusionThere is a high contamination rate of mobile phones with nosocomial pathogens. Most of the isolates were resistant to ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and also multidrug-resistant. A mobile phone belonging to male health professionals and to those not disinfecting mobile phones was significantly contaminated with bacteria. Therefore, strategies for preventing nosocomial transmission of drug-resistant pathogens through mobile phones, like hand washing and cleaning mobile phones, are recommended.
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