Journal of Environmental Health Sciences (한국환경보건학회지)

Korean Society of Environmental Health (한국환경보건학회)
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Study on the Characteristics of Food-borne Pathogens Isolated from Students' Mobile Phones in Busan

부산지역 중·고등학생 휴대전화에서 분리한 식중독균의 특성 연구 - 대장균, 황색포도상구균, 바실러스 세레우스를 중심으로 -

  • Park, Sun-Hee (Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health & Environment) ;
  • Park, Yeon-Kyoung (Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health & Environment) ;
  • Hwang, In-Yeong (Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health & Environment) ;
  • Park, Hye-Young (Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health & Environment) ;
  • Sung, Gyung-Hye (Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health & Environment) ;
  • Jo, Hyeon-Cheol (Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health & Environment)
  • 박선희 (부산광역시 보건환경연구원) ;
  • 박연경 (부산광역시 보건환경연구원) ;
  • 황인영 (부산광역시 보건환경연구원) ;
  • 박혜영 (부산광역시 보건환경연구원) ;
  • 성경혜 (부산광역시 보건환경연구원) ;
  • 조현철 (부산광역시 보건환경연구원)
  • Received : 2016.04.08
  • Accepted : 2016.08.01
  • Published : 2016.08.31
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Abstract

Objectives: Mobile phones have become one of the most essential accessories in daily life. However, they may act as reservoir of infectious pathogens if they are used without hygienic practices in their handling. Therefore, this study aimed to isolate food-borne pathogens from mobile phones and investigate the characteristics of toxin genes and antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Methods: A total of 146 mobile phones were collected from 83 middle- and 63 high-school students in Busan. The surfaces of the mobile phones were aseptically swabbed. Results: Among the food-borne pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli were detected in 26 (17.8%), 20 (13.7%) and four (2.7%) samples, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences according to school level, gender or phone type. None of four E. coli strains had pathogenic toxic genes. All of the B. cereus strains carried at least three different toxin genes among the nine enterotoxin and emetic toxin genes. Three out of 20 B. cereus strains (15%) possessed emetic toxin genes, which are rarely detected in food-poisoning cases in Korea. Among the 26 strains of S. aureus, the detection rate of staphylococcal enterotoxin genes, toxic shock syndrome toxin (tsst) and factors essential for methicillin resistance (femA) were 84.6%, 7.7% and 100%, respectively. In the antibiotic susceptibility test, there was no methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA). Conclusion: The results show that students' mobile phones in Busan were contaminated by food-borne pathogens which carried various toxic genes. Therefore, regular phone disinfection and hand hygiene is important in order to reduce cross-contamination.

Keywords

References

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