Cell Phones May Spread Infections

CHaN_316 writes "Yahoo is running an article talking about how cell phones from health workers are helping spread dangerous infections in hospitals. 'They found that 12 percent of healthcare providers' cell phones were contaminated with [Acinetobacter baumannii]. The results are disturbing because [it] has the propensity to develop resistance to almost all available antibiotics ... Cell phones provide a large dry surface that allows survival of A. baumannii--it requires no nutrients ... [it] is found in intensive care units, and the mortality rate among infected patients is very high -- between 50 and 60 percent.' The hospital that conducted this research no longer allows the use of cell phones, and are switching to devices that don't require hand contact like pagers." So how long before someone develops a cell phone that can be dunked in alcohol or run through the autoclave to sterilize it?

Comments

Telephone Sanitizers are what we need...

[mfarah]

Douglas Adams was, once again, an incredible visionary (even if he didn't intend to be one).

Already done.

[grub]

So how long before someone develops a cell phone that can be dunked in alcohol

Samsung already has. They may not have intended it but mine has been accidently soaked in booze more times than I care to (or can) remember.