ArticleScientific reports2021
A pilot metagenomic study reveals that community derived mobile phones are reservoirs of viable pathogenic microbes.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental community transcriptomics: strategies and struggles.Briefings in functional genomics · 2025Review
- Exploring the Effectiveness of Hydrophobic Glass Surface on Touch-Enabled Digital Device to Reduce Microbial Adhesion and Propagation.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciences · 2024Article
- Ultraviolet-C-Based Mobile Phone Sanitisation for Global Public Health and Infection Control.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- The Microbiome of Things: Appliances, Machines, and Devices Hosting Artificial Niche-Adapted Microbial Communities.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- 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
- Mobile phones are hazardous microbial platforms warranting robust public health and biosecurity protocols.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Metagenomic Sequencing and Reverse Transcriptase PCR Reveal That Mobile Phones and Environmental Surfaces Are Reservoirs of Multidrug-Resistant Superbugs and SARS-CoV-2.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- Healthcare Derived Smart Watches and Mobile Phones are Contaminated Niches to Multidrug Resistant and Highly Virulent Microbes.Infection and drug resistance · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is increasing attention focussed on the risks associated with mobile phones possibly serving as 'Trojan Horse' fomites for microbial transmission in healthcare settings. However, little is reported on the presence of microbes on community derived mobile phones which in 2021, numbered in the billions in circulation with majority being used on a daily basis. Identify viable microbial organisms swabbed from smartphones on a university campus. Entire surfaces of 5 mobile phones were swabbed and examined for their microbial content using pre-agar-based growths followed by downstream DNA metagenomic next-generation sequencing analysis. All phones were contaminated with viable microbes. 173 bacteria, 8 fungi, 8 protists, 53 bacteriophages, 317 virulence factor genes and 41 distinct antibiotic resistant genes were identified. While this research represents a pilot study, the snapshot metagenomic analysis of samples collected from the surface of mobile phones has revealed the presence of a large population of viable microbes and an array of antimicrobial resistant factors. With billions of phones in circulation, these devices might be responsible for the rise of community acquired infections. These pilot results highlight the importance of public health authorities considering mobile phones as 'Trojan Horse' devices for microbial transmission and ensure appropriate decontamination campaigns are implemented.
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