@article{Ulger_Dilek_Esen_Sunbul_Leblebicioglu_2015, title={Are healthcare workers’ mobile phones a potential source of nosocomial infections? Review of the literature}, volume={9}, url={https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/26517478}, DOI={10.3855/jidc.6104}, abstractNote={<p class="SmallText">Mobile communication devices help accelerate in-hospital flow of medical information, information sharing and querying, and contribute to communications in the event of emergencies through their application and access to wireless media technology. Healthcare-associated infections remain a leading and high-cost problem of global health systems despite improvements in modern therapies.</p> <p class="SmallText">The objective of this article was to review different studies on the relationship between mobile phones (MPs) and bacterial cross-contamination and report common findings.</p> <p class="SmallText">Thirty-nine studies published between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. Of these, 19 (48.7%) identified coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), and 26 (66.7%) identified <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>; frequency of growth varied. The use of MPs by healthcare workers increases the risk of repetitive cyclic contamination between the hands and face (<em>e.g.</em>, nose, ears, and lips), and differences in personal hygiene and behaviors can further contribute to the risks.</p> <p class="SmallText">MPs are rarely cleaned after handling. They may transmit microorganisms, including multiple resistant strains, after contact with patients, and can be a source of bacterial cross-contamination. To prevent bacterial contamination of MPs, hand-washing guidelines must be followed and technical standards for prevention strategies should be developed.</p>}, number={10}, journal={The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries}, author={Ulger, Fatma and Dilek, Ahmet and Esen, Saban and Sunbul, Mustafa and Leblebicioglu, Hakan}, year={2015}, month={Oct.}, pages={1046–1053} }