Don’t take your cell phone inside hospital or ICU, It can infect patients: Scientists

Cell phones have become an inseparable part of our lives. Isn’t true? But taking it everywhere can hamper other wellness. A group of international scientists recently has published a clinical trial paper, which warns about the infectivity of the cell phones on patients. As per the study, taking mobile phone inside a healthcare facility or ICU can infect the patients. The study also cautioned that the harmful bugs and infected bacteria can get in the way of patients’ wellness.

A research paper presented at the Indian Science Congress, by M Kumari Chitturi of the microbiology department of SV University, Tirupati highlighted some crucial points about the concerns of bacterial infectivity of cell phones and how detrimental microorganisms are developing the confrontation capacity to antibiotic drugs. Along with the new research paper, previously, three other survey papers highlighting the infectivity capacity of the mobile phone bacteria on medical treatments have been published.

In the research paper, the scientists also have warned the doctors and other medical staffs not to carry mobile phones inside the patient wards; otherwise, it can develop harmful germs and hamper the treatment procedure. We all previously have known that mobile phones used to host a number of germs and bacteria, but the research paper put the limelight on how the germs found on cell phones can extend resistance to numerous acknowledged antibiotics. Researchers, in the paper, have warned the doctors, medical staffs, as well as the relatives of the patients not to take phones during inside the hospital premises.

To conduct the research, the scientists from the SV University, Tirupati considered around 100 samples collected from the mobile keypads used by the doctors and medical staffs like nurses in a hospital. After analyzing the samples, the analysts found more than 56 samples to contain infective bacterial colonies, which can develop resistance to the antibiotics used in hospitals for healing the patients. The most concerning factor highlighted by the study is the existence of E Coli bacteria on the touch screen of mobile phones, which can hamper the efficiency of the antibiotics.

As said by the lead author of the study, M Kumari Chitturi, lack of knowledge on hand hygienic is the basic reason of germ growth on mobile phones.