Investigation of Staphylococcus spp. and Escherichia coli Colonization and Biofilm Formation on University Students’ Mobile Phones and Hands

Mobile phones, which became indispensable in our daily lives, are likely to be colonized by microorganisms found in the hands of people using them. In this study, a total of 30 mobile phones and owner hands (30) were screened for Staphylococcus and E. coli contamination in university students. Colonization was screened in these samples, and their susceptibility to 11 antimicrobials in different groups. And, oxacillin salt agar screening test was performed to detect methicillin resistance. Microplate (MP) method, Congo Red Agar (CRA) method and Standard Tube (ST) method were used to determine biofilm formation. According to our results, E. coli colonization was no found in any sample, while 31 samples were isolated as Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) and 2 samples as Staphylococcus aureus. All 33 Staphylococci isolates were found to be susceptible to vancomycin and rifampicin, while 27% were found to be resistant to oxacilline, 36% to cefoxitin, 70% to ampicillin, 48% to tetracycline, 76% to erythromycin, 70% to penicillin, 30% to gentamicin, 30% to ampicillin-clavulanic acid, 24% to ciprofloxacin, 27% to ciprofloxacin, 27% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and 27% to methicillin. It was determined that 9 (27.2 %) of the 33 Staphlococci isolates was resistant to methicillin. Staphylococci were 100% biofilm producers according to the microplate method. Especially hand hygiene should be carefully provided and mobile phones should be regularly cleaned in order to prevent bacterial colonization of mobile phones, and prevention strategies should be developed in terms of public health

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