Mobile phones have become essential tools for doctors, nurses and other health care workers.
They are used to check patient information, communicate with colleagues and access medical resources.
However, a new international study suggests these devices may also be carrying dangerous bacteria that can cause serious infections.
Researchers from several institutions, including Bond University in Australia, examined 95 mobile phones used by health care workers in hospitals in Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
Their findings, published in the journal MicrobiologyOpen, revealed that many of the phones carried harmful bacteria linked to millions of deaths worldwide.
The researchers used an advanced technology called metagenomics, which analyzes all the DNA found on a surface.
This method allowed them to identify not only the bacteria living on the phones but also the genes that help these bacteria resist antibiotics.
On average, each phone carried more than three different species from a group of 10 bacteria responsible for the highest number of deaths from bacterial infections around the world.
These bacteria included Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. All four are listed by the World Health Organization as priority pathogens because they can cause severe illness and are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
The scientists also discovered that the phones contained genes that bacteria use to develop and share antibiotic resistance. This means the devices may serve as a place where dangerous bacteria and resistance genes can survive and possibly spread.
To describe this collection of bacteria and resistance genes found on mobile phones, the research team introduced a new term: the “phonome.” It refers to the complex community of microbes living on mobile devices.
Although the study did not prove that mobile phones directly spread infections to patients, the findings suggest they could be an overlooked source of contamination in hospitals. Health care workers wash and sanitize their hands regularly, but their phones are often touched many times a day without being cleaned.
Many of the phones tested came from busy emergency departments, children’s wards, neonatal intensive care units and pediatric intensive care units, where patients are often especially vulnerable to infection.
Dr. Lotti Tajouri from Bond University said hospitals place great importance on hand hygiene, but mobile phones are often forgotten during infection control procedures. Because these devices travel between patient rooms, hospital wards and personal spaces, they may carry bacteria from one place to another.
The researchers believe that adding regular phone cleaning to hospital hygiene routines could help reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections. Simple cleaning methods, combined with good hand hygiene, may offer another layer of protection for patients and health care workers.
Hospital-acquired infections remain a major health challenge around the world. In Europe alone, they lead to more than 25 million extra hospital bed days every year and cost between 13 and 24 billion euros.
The researchers say more studies are needed to determine whether contaminated phones directly transmit infections. Even so, the findings highlight an important area that hospitals may need to pay closer attention to as they work to reduce the spread of dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria.
