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Mobile phones represent a pathway for microbial transmission: A scoping review.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Mobile phones have become an integral part of modern society. As possible breeding grounds for microbial organisms, these constitute a potential global public health risk for microbial transmission. OBJECTIVE:Scoping review of literature examining microbial's presence on mobile phones in both health care (HC) and community settings. METHODS:A search (PubMed&GoogleScholar) was conducted from January 2005-December 2019 to identify English language studies. Studies were included if samples from mobile phones were tested for bacteria, fungi, and/or viruses; and if the sampling was carried out in any HC setting, and/or within the general community. Any other studies exploring mobile phones that did not identify specific microorganisms were excluded. RESULTS:A total of 56 studies were included (from 24 countries). Most studies identified the presence of bacteria (54/56), while 16 studies reported the presence of fungi. One study focused solely on RNA viruses. Staphylococcus aureus, and Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci were the most numerous identified organisms present on mobile phones. These two species and Escherichia coli were present in over a third of studies both in HC and community samples. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Acinetobacter sp., and Bacillus sp. were present in over a third of the studies in HC settings. CONCLUSIONS:While this scoping review of literature regarding microbial identification on mobile phones in HC and community settings did not directly address the issue of SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19, this work exposes the possible role of mobile phones as a 'Trojan horse' contributing to the transmission of microbial infections in epidemics and pandemics.

SUBMITTER: Olsen M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7187827 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May - Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mobile phones represent a pathway for microbial transmission: A scoping review.

Olsen Matthew M Campos Mariana M Lohning Anna A Jones Peter P Legget John J Bannach-Brown Alexandra A McKirdy Simon S Alghafri Rashed R Tajouri Lotti L

Travel medicine and infectious disease 20200428

<h4>Background</h4>Mobile phones have become an integral part of modern society. As possible breeding grounds for microbial organisms, these constitute a potential global public health risk for microbial transmission.<h4>Objective</h4>Scoping review of literature examining microbial's presence on mobile phones in both health care (HC) and community settings.<h4>Methods</h4>A search (PubMed&GoogleScholar) was conducted from January 2005-December 2019 to identify English language studies. Studies ...[more]

PMID: 32360322

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Dataset Information

Mobile phones represent a pathway for microbial transmission: A scoping review.

Publications

Mobile phones represent a pathway for microbial transmission: A scoping review.

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