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Background: Mobile phones are increasingly associated with the transmission of pathogenic microbial agents. In the clinical setting where there is usually high exposure to pathogens, these devices may serve as vehicles for the transmission/spread of pathogens. This study determined the prevalence of bacterial contamination of mobile phones of health workers and the predisposing factors, in order to ascertain the risk of transmission of pathogenic bacteria through mobile phones. Methodology: This study was carried out in a private medical center at Mbouda, Cameroon, involving 78 health workers including health professionals (nurses, physicians, laboratory scientists) and hospital support workers (cleaners, cashiers and security guards), recruited by convenient sampling. Sterile swab sticks moistened with physiological saline were used to swab about three quarter of the surface of each phone. The swabs were cultured on MacConkey and Mannitol Salt agar plates which were incubated aerobically at 37oC for 24 hours, while Chocolate agar plate was incubated in a candle extinction jar for microaerophilic condition. The isolates were identified using standard biochemical tests including catalase, coagulase, and the analytical profile index (API) system. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: Mobile phones of 75 of the 78 (96.2%) health workers were contaminated, with highest contamination rates for the phones of laboratory scientists (100%, 12/12), followed by support staff (98.9%, 13/14), nurses (97.7%, 43/44) and physicians (87.3%, 7/8), but the difference in contamination rates was not statistically significant (p=0.349). A total of 112 bacteria belonging to 12 genera were isolated, with predominance of Staphylococcus aureus (31.3%, n=35), Micrococcus spp (30.4%, n=34), coagulase negative staphylococci (10.7%, n=12) and Pseudomonas spp (5.4%, n=6). The laboratory (18.8%, 21/112) and medical wards (16.1%, 18/112) had the highest bacterial contamination of mobile phones (p=0.041), and more bacterial species were isolated from smartphones (68.8%, n=77/112) than keypad phones (31.2%, n=35/112) (p=0.032). There was no significant difference between phone contamination rates and the practice of hand hygiene or decontamination of work surfaces (p>0.05). Conclusion: The presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria on cell phones of health-care workers emphasizes the role of fomites in the transmission of infectious diseases. Consequently, good hand hygiene and decontamination practices are encouraged among health workers in order to limit the spread of hospital-acquired infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: l'objectif de notre travail était évaluer la contamination microbienne des téléphones mobiles utilisés par les personnels soignants des différents services de l'hôpital militaire d'instructions Mohammed V de Rabat et la comparer à celui d'une population témoin et aussi démontrer l'efficacité des solutions hydroalcoolique dans la désinfection de ces téléphones mobiles. METHODES: il s'agit d'une étude descriptive transversale réalisée sur une période de 9 mois entre septembre 2010 et juin 2011, dans le service de bactériologie de l'hôpital militaire d'Instruction Mohammed V. l'étude bactériologique a été faite sur 240 téléphones mobiles dont 50% provenaient de personnels de sante. Le taux de contamination bactérienne de tous les téléphones mobiles était de 100%. Les cultures des bactéries isolées au niveau des téléphones mobiles du personnel médical étaient plus polymorphes que celles de la population témoin (p=0,028). Parmi 437 bactéries isolées: 223(51%) provenaient de téléphones de personnels de santé et 214(49%) de téléphones de la population témoin avec une différence qui n'était pas statistiquement significative(p>0,05) sauf pour les isolats de Staphylocoque à coagulase négative et Staphylococcus aureus. Les bactéries isolées étaient représentées par: Staphylocoque à coagulase (57,7%), Staphylococcus aureus (18,1%), Corynebacterium sp (18,8%), Bacillus sp (2,3%) et autres (2,2%).La différence entre la prévalence des bactéries isolées selon les services et les fonctions des personnels de santé n'était pas statistiquement significative (p>0,05). La désinfection des téléphones portables par la solution hydroalcoolique a réduit à 99,5% le nombre des colonies. CONCLUSION: ce travail montre que les téléphones portables pourraient jouer un rôle dans la transmission des infections nosocomiales et communautaires. Dans le cadre de prévention de ces risques, il faut sensibiliser les utilisateurs des téléphones mobiles l'importance du lavage des mains et l'utilisation des solutions hydro alcoolique pour désinfecter aussi bien les téléphones portables que les mains.

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Fourteen distinct bacterial clones were isolated from surface-sterilized shoot tips (~1 cm) of papaya (Carica papaya L. ‘Surya’) planted on Murashige and Skoog (MS)-based papaya culture medium (23/50 nos.) during the 2-4 week period following in vitro culturing. These isolates were ascribed to six Gram-negative genera, namely Pantoea (P. ananatis), Enterobacter (E. cloacae), Brevundimonas (B. aurantiaca), Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium (M. rhodesianum), and Agrobacterium (A. tumefaciens) or two Gram-positive genera, Microbacterium (M. esteraromaticum) and Bacillus (B. benzoevorans) based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Pantoea ananatis was the most frequently isolated organism (70% of the cultures) followed by B. benzoevorans (13%), while others were isolated from single stocks. Bacteria-harboring in vitro cultures often showed a single organism. Pantoea, Enterobacter, and Agrobacterium spp. grew actively on MS-based normal papaya medium, while Microbacterium, Brevundimonas, Bacillus, Sphingomonas, and Methylobacterium spp. failed to grow in the absence of host tissue. Supplying MS medium with tissue extract enhanced the growth of all the organisms in a dose-dependent manner, indicating reliance of the endophyte on its host. Inoculation of papaya seeds with the endophytes (20 h at OD550 = 0.5) led to delayed germination or slow seedling growth initially. However, the inhibition was overcome by 3 months and the seedlings inoculated with Pantoea, Microbacterium, or Sphingomonas spp. displayed significantly better root and shoot growths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Bacterial contamination of unstable blood products constitutes today the most frequent infectious risk transmitted by blood transfusion. Platelet concentrates are often incrimineted. As responsible germs are in general of cutaneous origin, a sample procedure with diversion of the first 20 ml during blood donation is studied. The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of this technique on bacterial contamination rate of standard platelet units prepared at the regional blood transfusion center in Casablanca. Study design and methods: A comparative study of two types of sample pockets is made: 500 Standard Platelet concentrates (CPS) are prepared after collection using standard triple bags (Baxter) (group 1) and 560 pockets of CPS were prepared after collection using triple bags with Sample Diversion Pouch sampling system for elimination of the first 20 ml of donation (Macopharma and Terumo) (group 2). The skin was disinfected in two times with alcohol 70%. The bacteriological study was made in the two groups at the third day of conservation. Results: Six CPS of group 1 were contaminated, of which five were staphylococci coagulase negative and one bacillus sp. Six CPS of group 2 were contaminated, of which five were staphylococci coagulase negative and one staphylococcus aureus. The bacteria isolated were those of cutaneous flora at 100%. Diversion of first 20 ml of blood donation results in a 16.6% reduction in bacterial contamination of CPS (P >0.05). Conclusion: The non-significant reduction in the prevalence of the bacterial infection of CP formulates the problem of the indication of the sampling devices with derivation of first 20 ml during blood collection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Revue Francaise des Laboratoires is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectif Évaluer la contamination bactérienne des concentrés plaquettaires préparés au centre de transfusion sanguine (CTS) de Treichville, Abidjan. Matériel et méthodes Il s’agi d’une étude transversale qui s’est déroulée au CTS d’Abidjan et à l‘unite de bactériologie clinique (UBC) de l’Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire. Les échantillons constitués de boudins ou de poches de concentrés de plaquettes préparés le même jour ont été mis en culture dans l’automate Bact/Alert ® en respectant les règles d’asepsie. L’identification a été effectuée à l’aide de l’automate Vitek 2 ® . Résultats Au total, quarante-sept (47) échantillons de concentrés de plaquettes provenant de donneurs de sang ont été analysés. La majorité des donneurs (78,7 %) avait effectué au moins 5 dons. Sur ces concentrés plaquettaires, 3 échantillons ont présenté une croissance bactérienne soit un taux de contamination de 6,4 %. L’identification a mis en évidence deux souches de Sphingomonas paucimobilis et une souche de Staphylococcus warnerii. Conclusion La contamination bactérienne des produits sanguins est un risque réel non négligeable dans notre pays. Aussi, il est primordial d’analyser l’ensemble du processus de préparation des PSL depuis le prélèvement jusqu’au stockage afin d’identifier et maîtriser les étapes à risques contaminations pour améliorer la sécurité transfusionnelle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]