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ABSTRACT
Mobile phones have become an essential part of our lives. Though they offer plenty of advantages, they are prolific breeding grounds for infectious pathogens in communities and hospitals. The study seeks to identify the counts and types of bacteria contaminating touch screen mobile phones (TSMP) used by residence living in Uzebu Community located in Eghor local government area of Edo State. It also tries to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profiles. A cross-sectional study was conducted from October to November 2020. Thirty swab samples were collected, along with a questionnaire, swabs moistened with sterile normal saline were used to swab an area of 3cm2 over TSMP. Samples were cultured and processed by standard Microbiological procedures. The overall percentage of positive cultures was 68.2%. Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant isolate (52.3%) while that of the Gram Negative culture was E. coli (18%). The data from the questionnaire showed that wipes were the most efficient method used by respondents to clean TSMP. The use of surface guards with rough type reduced contamination and bacterial counts. Antimicrobial susceptibility results showed that 100% were susceptible to Ofloxacin and Gentamicin while 75% susceptible to Erythromycin and Ceftriaxone.Further more, 100% were resistance to Cloxacil, Augmentin, Ceftazidime, Cefuroxime. Therefore, an awareness campaign should be launched to educate the public on the health hazards associated with improper use of mobile phones.
Keywords: Mobile phones, contamination, Staphylococcus aureus, Community and Awareness.
