Journal des agents antimicrobiens

Frequency of MRSA Isolates in Mobile Phones, Ears and Hands of Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Mawada Bakri Osman, Safia Mohammed Omer, Babiker Saad Almugadam and Hana Mohammed Ahmed

Background: Mobile devices and hand of Healthcare Workers may contaminate with bacteria and become a source of infection.
Objective: This study was conducted to identify the types of bacteria in mobile phones, ears, and hands of health workers (HCWs) in Kosti teaching hospital and to determine the frequency of MRSA among Staphylococcus auerus isolates from these specimens.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, hospital and laboratory based study, was carried out in Kosti Teaching Hospital. A total of 120 swab samples were collected from mobile phone, hand and ear of healthcare workers. All the swabs were cultured directly on blood agar, MacConkey agar and chocolate agar. Identification of isolates was did base on colonial appearance, Gram stain, and conventional biochemical tests. All Staphylococcus auerus isolates were subjected to antibiotics susceptibility testing using disc diffusion technique. Data were analyzed by statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software version 17 and presented in form of tables.
Results: The frequency of positive culture among mobile phone, ear, and hand swabs were were 95% (57/60), 100% (30/30) and 96.7% (29/30), respectively. The frequency of MRSA was 98.6%.
Conclusions: Mobile phone, ear and hand of Healthcare Workers were the source of nosocomial infections. Good basic hygiene measures are extremely important, not only for hospital staff but also for patients and visitors, and it has a positive impact in infection control.