Investigation of the bacterial flora on the cellphones of medical staff in the pediatric-neonatology department of Mecheria-Algeria

The use of cell phones during medical care is a concern due to the transmission of pathogenic bacteria between medical staff and patients. This habit can lead to treatment errors, resulting in high mortality and additional therapeutic costs. The study aims to evaluate the infectious risk associated with using cell phones in the pediatric-neonatology department in Mecheria-Algeria, focusing on identifying bacteria that contaminate cell phone surfaces, the formation of biofilms and their resistance to antibiotics. The results showed that the microbial burden on cell phone surfaces ranged from 35±5 to 28×10 4 ±120 CFU/phone surface (CFU/PS). Gram-positive strains were predominant, including Staphylococcus xylosus and Bacillus sp. However, Gram-negative bacteria such as Aeromonas hydrophila , Micrococcus sp., Pseudomonas luteola and Sphingomonas paucimobilis were also isolated. The isolated bacteria showed complete resistance to Ceftazidime, while tetracycline and ciprofloxacin appeared effective against these isolates. The ability to form microbial biofilms was one of the characteristics observed in clinical isolates from the pediatric neonatology department, alongside isolates with hydrophobicity greater than 50%. However, most strains showed strong auto-aggregation at T = 0 min to T = 90 min, suggesting that initial incubation periods allowed for high auto-aggregation potential.