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Cell Phones May Spread Infections

Posted by michael on from the don't-know-where-that-phone-has-been dept.

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?

30 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Telephone Sanitizers are what we need... by mfarah · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    --
    "Trust me - I know what I'm doing."
    - Sledge Hammer
    1. Re:Telephone Sanitizers are what we need... by FTL · · Score: 4, Informative
      > Douglas Adams was, once again, an incredible visionary (even if he didn't intend to be one).

      Actually, he wasn't. His ludicrous "telephone sanitizers" weren't made up. It's a normal part of British culture. Don't believe me? Get your telephone sanitizers here, here and here. All .co.uk addresses, natually.

      Yes, it did blow my mind when I moved to the UK and discovered that this wasn't Douglas Adams fiction, it was sitting on every desk.

      --
      Slashdot monitor for your Mozilla sidebar or Active Desktop.
    2. Re:Telephone Sanitizers are what we need... by Xaoswolf · · Score: 4, Informative

      Differance being of course, that Mr. Adams had an entire section of the workforce devoted to going around and sanatizing phones, not just little wipes sitting on the desk.

      --
      Xaotik Designs
    3. Re:Telephone Sanitizers are what we need... by hackwrench · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, In fact, once the planet got rid of their telephone sanitizers the people on the planet "were suddenly wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone."

      Also, here is a link to the history of the term "telephone sanitizer".

  2. Already done. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    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.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  3. What about consumers? by Firehawke · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Alright, but how many consumer phones are also a breeding ground for this sort of thing now? I'm sure the bacteria spread fairly quickly, so I have to wonder. Also, how would a consumer clean such an infected phone without destroying it?

  4. EVIL Verizon Guy calls the hospital ICU... by eviltypeguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    EVIL Verizon Guy calls the hospital ICU...

    Ring...
    "Can you hear me now?"
    "Good!"

    EVIL Verizon Guy hangs up, cackles madly...

    1. Re:EVIL Verizon Guy calls the hospital ICU... by grain · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Can you heal me now?"
      "Good!"
      *gurgle*

  5. Ya by Darkman,+Walkin+Dude · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And while we're at it, we should sterilise the healthcare workers too. Honestly, this is just another knee-jerk pogrom against a new technology, wasting money that could have been better spent elsewhere.

    --
    What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
    1. Re:Ya by Black+Rabbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Doesn't even have to be something in/from a hospital!

      Some of the biggest spreaders of disease, even as simple as the common cold or the flu, right on up to SARS, are everyday items such as computer keyboards, regular twisted pair phones, (especially payphones!), and even coinage!

      This is why properly washing your hands often is so important in stopping the spread of contagious diseases.

    2. Re:Ya by bhima · · Score: 4, Funny

      The biggest spreaders of disease are my co-workers small children.

      --
      Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
  6. ericson phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I own an ericson R310 Waterproof shockproof phone (antenae that looks like a sharks fin). I noticed that during the recent sars outbreak they seemed to be the phone of choice for the men in bunny suits!

  7. Hand Contact? by Musashi+Miyamoto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why wouldn't a pager require hand contact? I bet what he really meant to say was _head_ contact.

    That would make a lot more sense.

  8. Well, makes sense to me... by big_groo · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...and are switching to devices that don't require hand contact like pagers.

    I keep my pager in my desk drawer. When I'm not in the office, I set it to the most annoying ring/beep, and stick it up in a ceiling tile. Hilarity ensues for co-workers in office.

  9. Actually... by MoeMoe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So how long before someone develops a cell phone that can be dunked in alcohol or run through the autoclave to sterilize it?

    Actually, you can dunk your phone in alcohol right now if you wanted (minus the screen)... I was a part-time cell phone dealer about 2 years ago, whenever a phone had water damage or got dirty internally, all we did was take the phone apart, get a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) and start scrubbing away at the corrosion.

    --
    Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
    A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
  10. How about irradiation? by Progman3K · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wouldn't simply irradiating the cel phone do the trick?

    Maybe some internal parts would need to be shielded to withstand it, but the external surface could be sterilized that way.

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  11. News Flash! by superdan2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    NEWS FLASH: If you have bacteria on your skin and that spot touches an object, other people touching that object can pick up the bacteria! What can you do to protect your children? Are you safe? Watch Channel 14 KSLSHDOT tonight at 10 and find out!

    This isn't news. This is fear-based ratings pandering by the source.

    --
    blog |
  12. And what about Medical PDAs??? by G4from128k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If cell phones harbor nasty germs, what about those PDA and Tablet PC medical terminals? The construction is equivalent -- lots of plastic, elastomeric buttons, touch screens, stylus, etc. Worse, medical terminals are more likely than are cell phones to be handled by multiple people.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  13. Sterile cell phones by DdJ · · Score: 5, Interesting
    So how long before someone develops a cell phone that can be dunked in alcohol or run through the autoclave to sterilize it?
    Not necessary. Get a bluetooth cell phone, and seal it in a sterile plastic bag while at work. Then develop a bluetooth headset that can be sterilized. You can push the buttons on the phone through the plastic bag.

    Heck, come to think of it, the plastic bag would let sound through without a problem. Just get a cell phone that you don't need to fold or unfold to use, and heat-seal it in a fresh sterile plastic bag every time you enter the hospital, and remove the plastic bag every time you leave. That would do the trick, wouldn't it?
  14. Cell phone contaminants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, you can sterilize just about anything but the cost and time are prohibitive. There is a sterilization process that uses gas where I have sterilized entire computers, monitors, mouse and keyboards that were placed in operating rooms. Also I have sterlized sensitive electronics that could not take either pressure or temperature that survived gas sterilization just fine. It is a trade off between cost of the sterilization process, the time it takes the equipment to be done, and the usefullness of the equipment.

  15. Wow, and next week... by quinkin · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Next week we discover that healthcare workers keys are infected, then pens, then wallets/purses, then healthcare workers...

    Well lets see here, send all the sick to one place, get the same subset of the population to treat them all and wierdly enough you get concentrations in infections (including all these wonderful antibiotic resistant/immune strains we are breeding with our idiotic farming and medical practices... but that's another rant for another day). Especially in and around those brave enough to be on the frontline as it were.

    If you aren't sick, stay the hell away from hospitals or you will be.

    Q.

    --
    Insert Signature Here
  16. sterilizable cell phones? by Fratz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, you can't autoclave it. They usually only do this with certain metals, since they can withstand the heat involved.

    You could theoretically dip it in a biocide of some sort (they use stuff tougher than alcohol in operating rooms and on used surgical tools) but there's a "nook & cranny" problem. When designing non-metal surgical tools, you have to make sure you don't make any tiny cracks, holes, or grooves where stuff can cling and avoid the biocide. The last cell phone I saw had a lot of nooks and crannies. You'd possibly need to redesign one to be completely sealed, which is getting more feasible because of wireless battery charging technologies and wireless connectivity technologies.

    Another alternative is that you could stick it in a sterile container and use it wirelessly, but then your wireless headset would still need to be sterilizable.

    --
    -- Fratz, human
  17. lucky me, i'm neurotic. by *weasel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    so I'm not surprised/affected in the least by this.

    c'mon people, any object that is carried -everywhere- or used daily (potentially used by or in the immediate proximity of sick people) provides an opportunity for disease to spread. particularly when it's something that people never clean.

    i honestly hope no-one is surprised by this.

    it's reminicent of the studies that surprised you all a few years back, that showed the average computer workstation is dirtier (bacteria) than the average bathroom.

    primarily because: how often do you clean around your PC? actually picking it up, moving it around, and wiping it all down with sanitizing pads? (particularly keyboard,mouse,wrist pads,power buttons,etc)

    ok, now how often do you wipe down your cell phone with a sanitizing pad? exactly.
    your phone is almost certainly more filthy than your toilet. think about that.

    and while you do your reactionary one time cleaning, don't forget your pager, pda, land-lines, av remotes, video gaming controllers, camera, keys, wallet, laptop, and car interior (radio, steering wheel,shifter,beltbuckler,door handles,etc).

    me? my neuroses keeps me well protected from you damned dirty apes.

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  18. Oh? by cybermace5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You can alcohol- or autoclave-sterilize any cell phone today! It just won't work afterwards.

    Seriously though...*doodeedooeeannoyingpolyphonicringTONE* "Hello? Yeah. Uh huh. Well I'm just working on a patient right now. Uh huh. A gallon of milk and some laundry detergent? Ok. Yes I'll remember. I said I'd remember! Last time? But... Yeah last time there was a big traffic jam and I just wanted to get home. Hold on for a sec, I need to install this catheter. Ok, I'm back. What do you mean I don't love you? What? That's not true! I'm sorry? When did I... No that's not what I meant. Ok I'm sorry. What? No, my patients are not more important than you. Uh huh. Yeah. Hmm. Well I'll try harder from now on. Yeah? Ok. All right. Yes I'll remember: milk and detergent. Ok. I love you too. What? Oh. Buh-bye. Yes I love you too. Ok. Bye then."

    --
    ...
  19. A new Paper Tiger by rdewald · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am a nurse. Cell phones aren't the problem, people are the problem.

    Want to stop the spread of the pathogens on your cell phone or _______ ? It's easy.

    1. Wash your fscking hands before and after you examine any patient.

    2. Don't use the device during an examination.

    Problem solved.

    You don't have to kill the little germies on the phone, just wash them off your hands, for %#^$&! sake.

    --
    The best way to do is to be.
    1. Re:A new Paper Tiger by rdewald · · Score: 3, Informative
      "Possibly, but what the hell are medical staff doing with cell phones on them in the first place while they're on the job, working with patients? "Hi, sorry, I'm smack in the middle of cracking open someone's ribcage, can I call you back?""

      There are a lot of different answers to this question because the term "medical staff" covers a lot of different people with different functions.

      Surgeons take calls during procedures. They always have, long before there were even cordless phones, much less cell phones. Medical treatment is sometimes dependent upon the rapid dispersal of information and an equally rapid decision being made in response to said information. I've talked to more than a few chest surgeons on the phone while they had their hands in someone else's chest. This was accomplished (aseptically) by speaker phone.

      With the advent of cell phones, many health care providers who care for patients dependent upon rapid decision-making carry cell phones with them 24/7/365. This easy access to decision-making resources has saved lives and reduced suffering, but these people represent a tiny, tiny fraction of the health care workers carrying cell phones today.

      Having said that, health care workers are people first, and there exists roughly the same proportion of stupid, thoughtless people in the industry as exist in the world at large. So, many health care workers use phones thoughtlessly. Should they stop? Sure.

      Wedding rings are virtual cesspools of virulent bacteria, particularly if they are engraved and/or contain a complex setting. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get people to take off their wedding rings while working in ICU's even though we have reams of good, hard science demonstrating that rings are a very efficient way to infect patients with all kinds of deadly bugs? Forget cell phones, it's just another surface, just another pathogen vehicle. It's just a particularly powerful vehicle because people touch it with their hands.

      I despise cell phones only slightly more than I despise strollers. They are both a menace to civility in public space. But, there's nothing new here. My point is the cell phone problem discussed in this story, and all other similar hand-contamination vectors (past, present and future) can be stopped dead with 15 seconds of hand-washing. Just using running water , i.e., without soap, is almost as effective. It's not hard, it's just inconvenient.

      --
      The best way to do is to be.
  20. It's the worker's *hands* that are the problem. by upstateguy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Certainly the cell phone is a conveinent place to pick up bugs. But so are doorknobs, restrooms, etc.

    The real problem...and working in public health I know this hasn't changed even since the advent of germ theory...is just getting the damn workers (I *include* physicians) in hospitals to wash their hands corrrectly before working with a patient. I still see plenty of infectious disease workers more than happy to walk out of a bathroom without washing their hands.

    And even if you do, when you touch just about anything (or just wait, as the stuff as you left on your hand grows) you could be putting patients...esp immunosuppresed patients (HIV/chemo/elderly) at great danger.

    I always shudder seeing hospital staff walking outside on the streets in their scrubs, shoe covers and hair covers like they are some magical shield that will never pick up pathogens harmful to the patients.

  21. Good!! by moehoward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new toxic wireless overlords.

    Now, I can kill my enemies with a simple "Here, it's for you..."

    In the past, I had to pass them a tin can connected to a string that previously contained bad salmon.

    --
    "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
  22. Re:Sterile cell phones +5 interesting???????? by DdJ · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Then we'd see the /. headline "Plastic Bags May Spread Infections." The infections aren't coming from the cellphone itself, but from whoever touches it, therefore the same problem will exist however the cellphone is covered.
    But you're not getting what the problem is. The same plastic surface is used constantly, so stuff gets on it one day, and grows, and is still there the next day, and grows, and that's the problem. Plastic bags that are replaced every day would indeed be at least a partial solution to the problem.
  23. No platform is safe... by retro128 · · Score: 4, Funny

    See everyone? Your cell phone CAN spread viruses!

    --
    -R