Bacteriological Contamination of Mobile Phones Used by Clinical Laboratory Staff in a Tertiary Hospital in Ondo State, South West Nigeria

Mobile phones used in clinical laboratory environments are potential fomites for hospital-acquired infections due to their proximity to biological samples and frequent handling without decontamination. This study assessed bacteriological contamination of mobile phones used by medical laboratory scientists at Ondo State University Teaching Hospital, Akure, South West Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 90 clinical laboratory staff across various laboratory sections. Swabs were taken from the surface of each participant's mobile phone using sterile cotton swabs moistened with sterile normal saline. Swabs were cultured on blood agar, MacConkey agar, and mannitol salt agar at 37 degrees Celsius for 24 hours. Bacterial isolates were identified using standard morphological and biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disc diffusion. Bacterial growth was detected on 88.9% of phones. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most frequent isolate at 39.3%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus at 27.0%, E. coli at 15.7%, and Klebsiella pneumoniae at 11.2%. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was identified in 20.8% of S. aureus isolates. Laboratory sections handling high-risk samples showed higher contamination rates. The majority of staff never cleaned their phones with disinfectants. The study recommends institutional policies prohibiting phone use in specimen processing areas, mandatory regular phone decontamination protocols, and education on phone hygiene as part of infection control training in Nigerian teaching hospital laboratories. Keywords: mobile phones, bacteriological contamination, medical laboratory scientists, fomites, Ondo State