Washing your hands in hospital? Here’s what you might have forgotten
Queensland researchers are studying whether cleaning mobile phones with UV light could limit the spread of infection in hospitals.
Our phones are notorious petri dishes, carrying a variety of potentially harmful microbes and they’re used by doctors, nurses, patients and visitors in hospitals every day.
Could mobile phones be spreading disease in hospitals? Nine
A new study by the Wesley Research Institute, the University of Queensland and the Critical Care Research Group (CCRG) aims to find out just how big this problem is, and whether exposing phones to special UV-C light could make them safer.
They’re hoping their research could change infection control in hospitals world-wide.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr Hugh Wright will lead the research at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane into how phones are used day-to-day and will swab phones before and after a quick 10-second UV-C clean.
He said early findings suggested phones were “reservoirs” for bacteria.
“Mobile phones are essential tools, but we need to treat them the same way we treat our hands,” he said.
“A 10-second UV-C clean could slot straight into existing hand-washing routines and give patients extra protection.”
Researchers are hoping their results could lead to hospitals worldwide adopting UV-C phone cleaning.
CCRG research fellow Dr Adrian Goldsworthy said the project could “redefine infection control in hospitals worldwide”.
UV-C has the shortest wave-lenth of the UV lights. It is dangerous to human skin and eyes - more dangerous than UV-A which is associated with skin ageing and UV-B which can cause sunburn and skin cancer.
A number of UV-C phone sanitising boxes and wands have hit the consumer market but their safety and efficacy varies.
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