Comparative Evaluation of Microbial Contamination on the Mobile Phones Used by Dental Health-care Professionals versus Faculty of School System.

Introduction: Mobile phones are frequently used in environments of high bacteria presence. These can harbor various potential pathogens and become an exogenous source of nosocomial infections. Even in recent outbreak of COVID-19, it has become a point which needs to be sanitized to prevent and control further disease transmission as it is equally important for health-care professionals to use mobile phones in the hospital and other health and care settings, especially for communication. The present study was conducted to determine the potential role of mobile phones in the dissemination of disease.

Objective: To compare the evaluation of microbial contamination on the mobile phones used by dental health-care professionals and faculty of senior secondary school and to access the microbial contamination of mobile phones by measuring the percentages of pathogens and to determine the type of bacteria commonly present on mobile phones. It also assesses the efficacy of 70% ethyl alcohol to be used as decontamination solution.

Materials and methods: A total of 126 mobile phones were screened in the study; 63 mobile phones belonging to dental health-care personnel from nine different specialties of dental college (Group 1 - test group) and 63 mobile phones belonging to nonhealth-care personnel like school teachers of senior schools (Group 2 - control group). All the samples were taken before and after cleaning with 70% ethyl alcohol. A total of 252 swab samples were taken.

Results: Microbial contamination was approximately 68% in swab samples taken from mobile phones before cleaning with 70% of ethyl alcohol but even with one time disinfection with alcohol, decontamination was found to be only 95% effective. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most common isolated organism in swabs collected from dental college. Pathogenic bacteria were more prevalent in samples of dental college than to school samples.

Conclusion: Ninetythree percentage of cell phones of health-care workers were contaminated and they act as potential source of nosocomial infections. Alcohol should be used to disinfect the mobile phones.