Abstract
Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of human lives for communication, education, and entertainment activities. This study aims to evaluate the diversity pattern of bacterial contaminants on mobiles and to check antibiotic resistance profiles in 105 samples. The study revealed a contamination of 51% in men and 49% in women, the highest in the 21- to 30-year age group, evidencing the extreme use of mobiles by teenagers. The study observed Gram-negative bacteria (63%) versus Gram-positive bacteria (37%). Overall, Gram-negative bacterial isolates showed the highest sensitivity to antibiotic nitrofurantoin (90%) and the lowest in ampicillin (35%). Gram positive has highest incidence of sensitivity towards tigecycline (100%) and lowest in cefoxitin (20%). ESβL producers were found to be 21.0% and highest being in Klebsiella oxytoca (35%) followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (31%). Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus capitis have been identified on the mobile phones for the very first time. Interestingly, some soil microbes were also isolated and unfortunately found to have some antibiotic resistance like Raoultella ornithinolytica and Sphingomonas paucimobilis. The results revealed that mobiles were contaminated with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, and this study also showed that few of the saprophytic soil strains have antibiotic resistance, which can be an alarming situation that needs to be addressed.