Cell phones helping spread hospital superbugs?

Perhaps you, too, have friends who go nowhere without their hand sanitizer. Perhaps you, too, laugh at them beneath your clenched top lip.

However, researchers at Ondokiz Mayis University in Turkey are discovering that germs lurk everywhere. Especially in cell phones belonging to doctors and nurses, according to an Agence France Presse report. In fact, these phones may be a significant source of infections such as MRSA, which seems to have become an increasing danger in hospitals all over the world.

In researching the cell phones and dominant hands of 200 doctors and nurses, the researchers found that 95 percent of the phones were home to at least one bacterium. Nearly 35 percent hosted two. And 11 percent enjoyed three or more bugs of various descriptions.

What is perhaps most stunning is that 1 in 8 were found to harbor the potentially deadly MRSA bug, which is said to be the cause of 60 percent of all hospital infections.

(Credit: Cc Jurvetson)

It's something that few people think about, but how often does anyone clean their cell phone? We're all being told relentlessly to wash our hands. Especially if we're employees of the restaurant in which the restroom that carries the notice is housed.

But cell phones sit in fluff-filled pockets, on dirty train tables, in scarcely pristine meeting rooms, on car seats that may have recently been vacated by the bottom of someone not necessarily as anally retentive as ourselves, and then we put them to our fingers, our ears, and our mouths.

Of course, cell phones are vital tools in hospitals. The question now might be: how do you get those over-stressed, over-partied doctors to clean their cell phones with alcohol-based disinfectants?

Perhaps they could just breathe on them.

[ReviewsReviewed]

This only goes to confirm the findings of researchers at the Scottish Infection Research Network who at the start of the year, working in conjunction with a group of scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University, announced that mobile phones can act as reservoirs for bacteria. You can read more here: http://www.reviewsreviewed.co.uk/index.php/mobileblog/The-phone-that-kills.html

[man_w_balls]

I heard about this last year, and I actually clean my phone almost daily. But unfortunately I'm not a doctor or hospital worker. But they really need to focus on the basics of cleanliness, since hospital infections are the FOURTH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH in the USA. God! ***?

[carrie_ceb]

Until 1965 or 1970 children under 12 years old were not allowed in any hospital rooms. Additionally hospitals were very strict with the visiting hours and duration of a visit. In recent years, at least the past 10 years children are allowed in hospital rooms, even in ICU rooms. People have cell phones and do use them even though you are not supposed to. You can visit patients pretty much anytime,
when my Mom was sick I stayed in the hospital room with her. All of these activities contribute to serious infection rate in hospitals. I washed my hands but never thought of my cell phone being such a germ carrier. Great Story

[mrsasucks]

sorry carrie your above statement has ntohing to do with mrsa...this bacterium may have devolped in hospitals but it is now everywhere and is a huge problem that obama should be talking about...it is killing more people than aids, it comes back after treatment, and our governement is so big we dont know what works but other countries do.....we are in for a rude awakening our famous medical superiority has just ruined our country what causes these superbugs is antibiotics given for coughs,strep throats, and all other bugs that they should never have given out

[Ellisa62]

After reading your article, I did some research and came across a new product called Wireless Wipes.
Wireless Wipes cleans and disinfects our cell phones, reduces our exposure to potentially harmful germs.
I work in a hospital setting, so I plan on passing this news on to them as well.
wirelesswipes.com