Mobile phones and writing pens of health care worker can harbor nosocomial microorganisms. Cross sectional study was done to find out microorganism contamination rate of writing pens & mobile phones of Doctors and Nurses along with their antibiotic sensitivity at Surgery department of Gujarat Medical Education & Research Society Medical College, Sola, Ahmedabad. Doctors and Nurses both should be aware that they may carry pathogenic microorganism on their mobile phones and writing pens.

Introduction
The objective of this study was to determine the microorganism contamination rate of writing pens & mobile phones of Doctors and Nurses along with their antibiotic sensitivity in surgical department of Gujarat Medical Education & Research Society Medical College, Sola, Ahmedabad. Microorganisms from surgical patients can be transferred to hands of Doctors and Nurses, and from their hands to their mobile phones & writing pens. Mobile phones and writing pens of health care worker can harbor nosocomial microorganisms.(1)(2) Doctors and Nurses generally wash their hands but their mobile phones and writing pens can harbor nosocomial microorganisms. These may transmit nosocomial infection to their homes also. Several studies have been done in the different parts of world and they confirm the presence of nosocomial microorganism on healthcare worker’s mobile phones & writing pens.(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) Most of the Doctors and Nurses of Surgical department are not aware that their mobile phones & writing pens may be contaminated by microorganisms.
Material and Method
Cross sectional study was done at Surgery department of GMERS Medical College, Sola, Ahmedabad in August 2012. Study includes Doctors and Nurses of surgical department like surgical outpatient department, surgical wards, surgical intensive care unit, surgical operation theatre, surgical post operative ward on voluntary basis. Consent was obtained from the Doctors and Nurses before inclusion in the study. Samples from mobile phones and writing pens were taken by sterile wet (sterile distilled water) swab stick. Microbiological cultures of all the samples were done and culture growths were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity.
Result
19 samples from Doctor’s mobile phones were collected. A total of 9 were positive for microbiological cultures. 3 (15.8%) showed pathogenic bacteria. Out of these, none had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and candida. 6 (31.6%) had normal flora. 36 samples from Nurse’s mobile phones were collected. A total of 15 were positive for microbiological cultures. 10 (27.8%) showed pathogenic bacteria. Out of these, 3 (8.3%) had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 1 (2.8%) had candida and 4 (11.1%) had normal flora. Doctors had more positive culture on mobile phones (47.4%) compared to Nurses (41.7%) but Nurses had more (27.8%) pathogenic organisms on their mobile phones compared to Doctors (15.8%). 19 samples from Doctor’s pens were collected. A total of 1 was positive for microbiological culture. 1 (5.3%) showed pathogenic bacteria. Out of these, none had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, candida or normal flora. 37 samples from Nurse’s pens were collected. A total of 6 were positive for microbiological cultures. 2 (5.4%) showed pathogenic bacteria. Out of these, 1 (2.7%) had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 4 (10.8%) had normal flora and none had candida. Doctors (5.3%) and Nurses (5.4%) both had equal contamination of Harshad Shankarlal Patel, Parul C. Patel, Sachin M. Patel, Nidhi Sood, Nehal Naik Copyright © 2013, Statperson Publications, International Journal of Recent Trends in Science And Technology, ISSN 2277-2812 E-ISSN 2249-8109, Volume 8, Issue 3, 2013 pathogenic bacteria to their writing pens. But Nurses had more positive culture on their writing pens (16.2%) than Doctors (5.3%).