Anish Singh Basnet*, Dinesh Pahari, Binita Lamichhane, Binaya Maharjan and Shashi Bhushan Chaturwedi

Department of Microbiology, D.A.V College, Lalitpur, Nepal

*Corresponding Author: Shashi Bhushan Chaturwedi, Department of Microbiology, D.A.V College, Lalitpur, Nepal.

Received: September 16, 2021; Published: April 06, 2022

Abstract

Cell phones are being extremely useful in our day to day life but they may also pose a serious risk to our health. The constant handling of cell phones by different users exposes it to an array of micro-organisms and makes it a good carrier for microbes, especially those associated with skin. These mobile phones are ideal breeding sites for microbes because of the temperature and moisture. These organisms if pathogenic can be detrimental to the health of the patients especially to those in critical care units

The study was conducted within the premises of DAV College, Jawalakhel, Nepal where cell phones were randomly sampled from teachers, students and staffs. The entire phone surface was swabbed aseptically with the help of a sterile cotton swab. Colonies that grew on the agar plate after incubation were then subjected to Gram Staining and then for further identification biochemical tests were conducted.

A total of 25 cell phones were sampled by swabbing. 100% of the mobile phones were contaminated with microorganisms. Both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were isolated from these samples. Among the isolated bacteria, 92% were gram positive and 8% were gram negative. Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS), Bacillus species, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa were among the isolated organisms.

This study shows that mobile phones are the ideal sources of modern-day contaminations. The organisms isolated by constitute the normal flora biome but are considered to be opportunistic pathogen and may cause serious health issues. People should be made aware of the fact that their mobile phones are also a carrier for pathogenic organisms.

Keywords: Ideal Breeding Sites; Temperature; Swab; CoNS; Opportunistic Pathogens

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Citation

Citation: Shashi Bhushan Chaturwedi., et al. “Bacterial Contamination of Cell Phone". Acta Scientific Microbiology 5.5 (2022): 08-11.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Anish Singh Basnet., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.