patient cellphones may cary dangerous bacteria

[sullidog]

Patient Cell Phones May Carry Dangerous Bacteria 
 
A new study suggests patients should be careful about cell phone use in dialysis clinics and hospitals because of the risk of potential spread of infection. The study shows that cell phones owned by patients and their visitors might be large contributors to the rise in hospital-acquired condition rates.

Published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, researchers discovered that in swab samples collected from 200 cell phones in a hospital, 20.6% of the cell phones belonging to health care workers and 39.6% of the cell phones belonging to patients and their visitors were contaminated with dangerous bacteria. The study also showed that the bacteria found on the patient and visitor cell phones included far more severe drug-resistant pathogens than those found on the devices belonging to the hospital staff.

As cell phone use becomes ever more prevalent, it is imperative that patients and health care professionals take steps to guard themselves from infection. If you are planning on using a cell phone, lap top, iPod or other electronic device in your dialysis clinic, make sure to disinfect the device before use. This step, coupled with traditional infection control precautions like regular hand-washing and the wearing of gloves, has the potential to greatly reduce the risk of the hospital-acquired infections that affect millions of patients every year and are associated with approximately 100,000 deaths. It is estimated that one-third of these infections could be prevented by adhering to standard infection control guidelines.
 

[galvo]

Very interesting, sullidog, and somewhat scary.

[Ang]

 so the cell phone can give you cancer,spread disease, WHAT NEXT




 

[cattlekid]

I sincerely hope that my clinic never gets a hold of this study.  I can just see them using it like a hammer to ban all electronics.  I rely on my cell phone, laptop and Nook Color in order to stay in touch with my office and keep myself sane during treatments. 

[sullidog]

Yep I'm going to just use my cell like I've always had.