Hospital-Acquired MRSA

Recent research in the UK has found that mobile phones could be encouraging the spread of MRSA in hospitals. Mobile phones do not fall within the scope of hygiene restrictions in NHS hospitals and it is estimated that up to a quarter of phones carry infections such as MRSA. This unsettling discovery was made by scientists at Edinburgh hospital.

The use of devices such as mobile phones and PDAs by doctors on wards improves the communication and compilation of patient records – and is on the increase.  This use, however, helps MRSA and other bacteria spread between patients and doctors alike.

Richard Brady, co author of the report that the research produced, said

Our concern is that many individuals may not be aware of the potential of these devices to spread bacteria or how to clean their phones.

Brady is a research fellow at the Medical Research Council’s human genetics unit at the Western General.

The report appeared in the Journal of Hospital Infection and went on to state that the situation

allows the likelihood that healthcare workers touch mobiles during patient care without performing hand hygiene