Mobile phones harbor germs and may pose an infection risk to patients if hospital staff don't wash their hands after using them, according to an article on the Fierce Healthcare website.
The findings are from a study published in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection. Virus RNA was found on nearly 39 percent of the mobile phones tested.
Rotavirus was the most common, according to the study, and was present on 39 of the 42 contaminated phones in the study, with respiratory syncytial virus present on three and metapneumovirus on one.
Medical personnel were more likely to use their personal phones than paramedics, and staff who work on adult wards were more likely to use mobile phones than those who worked on pediatric wards, the study found.
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