Prevalence of Drug-Resistant Nosocomial Pathogenic Bacterial Strains Isolated from Mobile Phones: A Cross-Sectional Study Between Microbiology Students and Other Disciplines

Roua Mohammad Saleh Alkufeid, Mohamed Abdellatif  El-Tayeb* , Shuruq Ahmed Othman Alshabanat, Mshael Mohammed Thabit Bin Madhi , Noura Saleem Duhaim Aldosari, and Nura Suliman Abdullah Alsakabi

Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Corresponding Author E-mail:mali5@ksu.edu.sa 

ABSTRACT: The widespread use of mobile phones in daily human transactions, especially those related to the medical field, leads to the spread of microbes among different communities. The microbiology student’s mobile phones could harbour various drug-resistant microbes involved in nosocomial infections to the family members. This study aimed to isolate and characterize bacteria from the mobile phones of microbiology students and other students. This cross-sectional study was performed using a random sampling technique. All data were collected using a questionnaire. Sixty samples were obtained from the surface of the mobile phones of 60 volunteers at King Saud University (KSU). Twenty-three (77%) microbiology students used their mobile phones in the toilets, compared to 23 (77%) non-microbiology students. Staphylococcus is the most prevalent organism followed by Bacillus. The isolated S. aureus was Ampicillin and polymyxin B resistant. It was intermediate against the tested Sulfamethoxazole and Bacitracin. S. aureus isolated from microbiology and non-microbiology students showed no antibiotic sensitivity changes. S. epidermidis showed resistance against Polymyxin B and exhibited an intermediate response against sulfamethoxazole and bacitracin. Bacillus sp. exhibited resistance against Erythromycin. The prevalence of bacteria was higher in microbiology students than in non-microbiology students. The mobile phones of microbiology students were contaminated with clinical pathogens. Therefore, suitable methods should be developed to prevent the outbreak of nosocomial pathogens from the laboratories.

KEYWORDS: Bacillus sp; Bacteria; Drug-resistance; Mobile phone; Transmission

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