BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDY OF MICROORGANISMS ON MOBILES AND STETHOSCOPES USED BY HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN EMERGENCY AND ICU'S

Background: Nosocomial infections are important problem in all hospitals which is contributed by the contaminated hand of the health care workers. The most common and indispensable accessories are the mobile phones and stethoscopes which found to be used in hospitals by patients, visitors, health care workers which are majorly contaminated and transferring infections from person to person during their use. The contaminants of the mobile phones and their resistance patterns are presented in the present study. Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), Tirupati from October 2012 to March 2013. A total of 100 samples were processed and the isolates were identified by using standard microbiological techniques and antibiotic resistance was determined by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method by CLSI guidelines5.Result: Out of 100 samples 50 from Stethoscopes and 50 from mobiles. In this study it was noted that mobiles (96%) showed more percentage of bacterial pathogens than compared to stethoscopes (92%) which also include common commensals. The resistance patterns of mobiles are CP Staphylococcus to penicillin (33.3%), CN Staphylococcus to penicillin (54.5%),Pseudomonas to Gentamycin(66.7%), E.coli to ciprofloxacin (100%), Klebsiella tocefeperazonesulbactum(66.7%).The resistance patterns of stethoscopes are CP Staphylococcus to anmpicillin (66.6%),CN Staph to penicillin (47.5%),Pseudomonas to co-trimaxazole (66.7%), E.coli tociprofloxacin (100%), to Klebsiella toco-trimaxazole(100%).Conclusion: It can be concluded that mobile phones and stethoscopes carry possible range of drug resistant pathogens. So, it is recommended that simple measures of disinfection with 70% alcohol for stethoscopes and strict rules for preventing the usage of mobiles in ICU'S and emergency are suggested.