Mobile phones 'spread bugs in hospitals'
MOBILE phones could be responsible for the spread of superbugs around hospitals, research has found.
Up to a quarter of phones – which do not come under hygiene restrictions at NHS hospitals – carry infections such as MRSA, scientists at Edinburgh University said.
Both mobiles and palmtop computers are used increasingly by doctors on wards to improve ways of communicating and compiling patient records.
Co-author of the report Richard Brady, a research fellow at the Medical Research Council's human genetics unit at the Western General, said: "Our concern is that many individuals may not be aware of the potential of these devices to spread bacteria or how to clean their phones."
The report, in the Journal of Hospital Infection, added the situation "allows the likelihood that healthcare workers touch mobiles during patient care without performing hand hygiene".
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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