Hospital Workers' Phones Covered In Germs

Mobile phones belonging to hospital workers are covered in bacteria, including the so-called superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, new research says.

A report in the journal Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials says the phones may be a source of hospital-acquired infections.

Researchers from Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey tested the phones of doctors and nurses in hospital operating rooms and intensive care units.

They found that almost 95 percent were contaminated with bacteria of different types, potentially causing infections.

Only 10 percent staff regularly cleaned their phone.

"Our results suggest cross-contamination of bacteria between the hands of healthcare workers and their mobile phones. These mobile phones could act as a reservoir of infection which may facilitate patient-to-patient transmission of bacteria in a hospital setting," the researchers wrote.