Prevalence and antimicrobial pattern of microbes isolated from mobile phones of university volunteers at swami ramanand teerth marathwada university, nanded, india

Abstract

The present investigation aimed to examine prevalence of bacterial pathogens on cell phone surfaces and their antibiotic susceptibility test among students, teachers and non teaching staff of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. The pathogens were isolated by taking mobile swabs on selective media and were characterized by morphological and biochemical tests. Similarly, the antibiotic sensitivity of isolates was determined by disk diffusion method. Total 100 mobile cell phones were screened for pathogenic bacteria from university volunteers, including students (60), teaching staff (20) and non-teaching staff (20). Out of 100 cell phones screened, 98 (98%) were contaminated with bacteria. Overall, amongst them, Fifty (50%) cell phones were found to harbour Staphylococcus aureus followed by Escherichia coli on 26 (26%) cell phones, 16 (16%) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi 6 (6%). Antibiotic susceptibility tests of these isolates indicate that S. aureus and P. aeruginosa were resistant to most of the antibiotics used in present investigation, whereas E.coli and S. typhi were resistant to doxycycline hydrochloride, vancomycin and azithromycin. Such pathogens could serve as a source of cross transmission. Therefore, knowledge regarding safe handling of mobile devices is recommended to limit the risk of cross-contamination.