HERBSPHERE
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Is Your Mobile Phone Bugged? Is your mobile phone bugged? Fear not, in the surveillance sense, unless you are doing something gravely anti-establishment or are a potential terrorist; with the exception of a mere handful, the vast majority of mobile users are just not in that category. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that your mobile phone has been earmarked for surveillance by ‘Echelon’1, or any other form of scrutiny. However, it is a certainty that your mobile phone is buggy! Whether or not it will be conclusive that mobile phone’s microwaves cause ill-health - (See Herbsphere: “Smell-o-phone – An Aroma too far!”) – your mobile phone is a bacterial health hazard. Considering in the UK alone 55 million Britons see their ‘mobile’ as an essential part of everyday life, that’s a lot of ‘risk’.2 What’s the problem? Apart from problems accruing from disposal and recycling of mobile phones since they came into our lives twenty-one years ago, according to the Office of National Statistics 75% of UK households now have a mobile phone with up to four accounts per household (users), which gives some idea of the scale of probable person-to-person bacterial transmissions.3 Plus a recent survey on mobile-phone-dependency suggests that 90% of users cannot get through a day without using their mobile, and 9% younger users among the 16,500 people polled admitted being addicted to their phones4 – that’s a lot of ‘constant handling’ and contact with an object crawling with potentially deadly bacteria. It was also reported that 54% of females under the age of 25 used a mobile as a ‘barrier’, i.e. when out alone, used their mobile as a means to dissuade others from approaching them.5 Perhaps if the squeamish thought about mobile phones as harbouring tens of thousands of microbes living on each square inch,6 only those of evil intent or the stout-hearted would approach an-other. Taken to the extreme, in the touchy-feely sense, we might all end up being treated as untouchables! Whatever, it’s a sobering thought that mobiles harbour more bacteria than a lavatory seat, the sole of a shoe or a door handle.7 The latter is saying something serious, as perhaps the thought has drifted through other minds when reminded to ‘wash your hands’ after using any public convenience - who disinfects the door handles! How Infection Occurs According to cited microbiologists, mobile phones encourage proliferation of bacteria through the combination of constant handling and the heat generated by the phones create a prime breeding ground for all sorts of bugs that are normally found on our skin.8 Among these is Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium frequently living on the skin or in the nose of a healthy person, which is a close relative of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), that can cause illnesses ranging from minor skin infections, such as pimples, boils and abscesses, to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS), and septicemia. It was found that the phones tested contained more skin bacteria than any other object. How else does infection come about? For example, mobiles may be stored in handbags with a load of other unhygienic junk, but are mostly accommodated cuddling up to body warmth in pockets where body-heat, as well as repeated handling, can contribute to the ‘warm up’ for bacterial spread. Most pockets are not full of ‘stardust’, but a mingling of ‘filthy lucre’ (bug-ridden loose change), handkerchiefs (these days part-used paper tissues), and/or much-used bunches of keys – You’ve got it, ‘opening up’ or ‘closing doors’ means more contact with multi-used door-handles. “In other words, they (mobiles) come into contact with more parts of our body and a wider range of bacteria than toilet seats.”9 What to do? It has long been known that telephone ‘handsets’ are repositories of germs. It’s not for fun that many companies pay phone-cleaning services to disinfect landline phone handsets in their offices in an effort to stave off ‘sickies’, especially winter woes. Many conscientious secretaries and other administrative staff cleanse their landline phone handsets every morning before use with disinfectant wipes. What has lulled us into thinking germ-ability doesn’t apply to ‘mobiles’? Who knows, but current advice to owners of mobiles is to use anti-bacterial wipes to keep their handsets germ-free.10 Hospitalized Mobile Phones In case you should think this is alarmist or a hoaxy warning not to be taken seriously – think again. Think of bacterial predators such as MRSA and Clostridium difficle11 that can hit the depleted immune system and attack the vulnerable in places like nursing homes and hospitals. C. difficile also is resistant to most antibiotics and is spread by contact with the hands. It can also be spread through contaminated surfaces, objects, or equipment such as: bedrails, thermometers, toilet seats, wheelchairs, and commodes. Any surfaces, patient equipment, and personal items that become contaminated can become sources of infection. At first glance, C. difficle may not seem as threatening as MRSA, but it has the edge on MRSA in that the organism forms heat-resistant spores; these can remain in whatever is their current ‘home environment’ for long periods of time and, given amenable conditions re-activate the bacteria. Although people are most often infected in hospitals, nursing homes or institutions, C. difficle infection in the wider community is increasing, e.g. outpatient sections. To give some idea of just how widespread bacteria proliferation can be, researchers in one hospital in Oman found from taking one hundred swab specimens, collected from children’s toys, sinks, door handles, telephone handsets and flowers brought into the hospital, that 61% grew a range of bacteria. Although some of the bacteria were not completely resistant, a few showed resistance to some treatment drugs.12 Bugs get everywhere; bacteria do not have area limitations of movement injunctions slapped on them. The public or the medical profession working in a purportedly more hygienic environment than the office, home, shops, places of entertainment or on the street, are also susceptible to bacterial mobile phone invasion. Recently, mobile phones’ transmissions of bacteria have been under the microscope other than in the UK. Last year, in a study conducted at the Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust in Northern Ireland, in a general hospital, to investigate the potential of health workers’ mobile phones to carry bacteria known to cause nosocomial infection, 13 it was discovered that the majority of mobile phones used by doctors and other health workers are carrying infectious pathogens.14 & 15 The lethal MRSA was found on two phones. Additionally, it was found that there was no significant difference in contamination between phone types, ‘clam shells’ or ‘candy bar’ shaped handsets.15 In all 148 hospital staff surveyed, of which 145 owned a phone and 105 were carrying the phone on them at the time of the survey,16 84.5% brought their mobile phones to the hospital daily and 45% used their phone at work at least once a day.17 In total, 96%+ of phones verified evidence of bacterial contamination, and 15 (14.3%) of the mobiles tested grew bacteria that are known to cause nosocomial infection.18 Despite the fact that these findings are obviously a cause for concern, it was concluded that there is almost no chance of patients being infected from the health workers’ mobile phones, as they do not generally hand their phones to patients to use.19 Nonetheless, it was recommended that decontamination techniques are developed for mobile phones used in hospital environments.20 Mobile phone contamination is a worldwide problem, studies have been done on the subject in Spain, Israel, as well as in the UK.21 Although not a great deal is known about the extent of the problem in India, in a news report last month from India scientists from Mangalore reported that spreading of bacterial infections in hospitals via cell phones used by doctors is presently happening.22 A study made at the Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore showed that almost 25% of doctors’ mobile phones contained the S. aureus bacteria, and a few cell phones in the study also housed a drug resistant relative of the bacteria.23 The researchers sampled 30 mobile phones in September and October 2004, and samples were collected from the phones and from the hands of the doctors. Almost 50% of the samples taken from the hands of the medical professionals harboured S. aureus bacteria.24 One of the researchers said: “ … mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and wireless computers may transmit more than just information in busy hospitals. They may also be involved in the transmission of infections in the healthcare systems.”25 Words of Warning In response to the Indian research, Dr. Richard Brady said: “They are correct in identifying the increased utilization of mobile phone technology in the healthcare environment as a main source of infections. This study should serve as an important reminder to those who advocate relaxation of regulations with regard to utilization of mobile phones in the healthcare system.”26 Therefore, in the light of scientific evidence for the bacterial infestation of mobile phones, it seems extraordinary that last month regulators (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency – MHRA) experts advised hospitals should not impose ‘blanket bans’ on mobile phones.27 Similarly, the British Medical Association has called on doctors to be allowed to use phones, but not the public.28 The MHRA agency recommends that mobile phones are not used in critical care areas or where patients are attached to complex devices, as any effect on such equipment could be detrimental to patient care, e.g. electronic medical devices such as dialysis machines.29 The policy manager of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS Trusts, rightly said such decisions should be left to individual Trusts to decide what to do.30 However, their concern appeared to be about ‘noise disturbance’ caused by mobile phones in hospitals; a respectful consideration regarding ‘annoyance’, disturbing patients’ peace, that most patients would welcome and could well do without. But, reportedly, it was not about the gadget’s potential as an infection carrier! When hygiene in UK hospitals is not in the best of health, it is astonishing that no prudence has been shown regarding the much more serious risk attached to mobile phones as infection spreaders. Is there an Answer to the Problem? It all sounds a bit grim or grime. Creating awareness is all very well, but it works best when there are at least potential solutions to a problem in view. Not to panic! Disinfectant phone wipes are maybe all we individuals have at present to doctor our ‘dirty mobiles’, but when bad news strikes there’s usually a remedy obtainable or one on its way. You may remember mobile phones themselves were out of reach of the general public when they first made their début, but the ‘price’ of just about anything is dependent on supply and demand or popularization through advertising and other means of forming demand. Bearing that in mind, there is a new gadget available on the market, the ‘Yuki Charger’, which is designed to deal with our dirty mobiles. It comes with a UV sanitizer compartment that kills germs and bacteria while battery charging is in progress.31 Regarding compatibility and upgrade, it is compatible to most mobile phone brands and models and comes with 10 different charger plugs, which can be easily replaced to cater to newer models.32 Putting aside NHS funding predicaments, with modification to this new device, there could be a possible answer to the wider institutional problem. This is the coin-operated mobile phone Yuki Charger used for ‘pit stop’ style recharging.33 It works by feeding in some coins, placing the mobile on the charger connections and after about 10 minutes wait the mobile is fired up. Add a UV sanitizer unit to that and it could provide a solution. An adverse comment that mobile users would have to be in a ‘fixed location’ may not suit the wider public, but would be ideal for institutional use. Furthermore, if some bright spark changed the coin operated part of the apparatus to accept ‘tokens’ instead of coins it could facilitate and be dedicated to e.g. ‘hospital staff’ use only. Customized tokens would also cut out any prospective public use or abuse at one and the same time. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”, 34 but will the will be there? “Hope springs eternal … “because public awareness has an uncanny way of getting things going. References:
1 Department of Surgery, Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust, Portadown, N. Ireland, UK. 2 Department of Medical Microbiology, Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust, Portadown, N. Ireland, UK. 3 Department of Intensive Care, Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust, Portadown, N. Ireland, UK.
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