title: Bacterial colonization of rings and cell phones carried by health-care providers: are these mobile bacterial zoos in the hospital?
abstract: Our objective was to assess the presence of pathogenic organisms on the rings (worn on fingers) and cell phones carried by health-care workers (HCWs) and the public. Forty-two percent of mobile phones carried by HCWs and 18% carried by the general public were found to carry one or more organisms; 82% of the rings worn by HCWs and 36% of those worn by the general public were found to be positive for the presence of at least one type of microbe.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India. sonalsaxena3@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Sonal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: Trishla
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Hemika
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Geeta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dutta
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D040421:Cell Phone; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006282:Health Personnel; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D055498:Jewelry / Q000382:microbiology*