According to a new study from Turkish researchers, doctors and nurses' mobile phones could act as a reservoir for tough-to-kill "superbug" bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The report, penned by Faculty of Medicine at the Ondokuz Mayis University, found that 95 percent of the phones tested were contaminated with bacteria like MRSA, which can cause serious staph infection. Only 10 percent of the staff cleaned their phones regularly, the report found.

"Our results suggest cross-contamination of bacteria between the hands of health care workers and their mobile phones. These mobile phones could act as a reservoir of infection which may facilitate patient-to-patient transmission of bacteria in a hospital setting," stated the study, which was published online in the Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials.

The report recommends more proactive cleaning of hands as well as mobile devices in-use at hospitals. It follows then that mobile devices used in hospitals need to be easily disinfected, which is not a common characteristic for most mobile phones and PDAs. Most QWERTY keyboard-equipped phones and feature-rich phones with various ports for headphones, USB and charger certainly make it all the more difficult.

Mobihealthnews attended a recent Panasonic Toughbook H1 roadshow event where the team showed off the mobile clinical assistant's handy "Time to Clean" reminder application. The tablet is also specially designed with fewer ports, openings and seams to make it easier to disinfect. This recent study from Turkey serves as a reminder in itself--time for handheld makers to ensure devices intended for hospital use are easily cleaned. Seems like Panasonic is onboard with this important trend, are you?

Check out this report from HealthDay for more.