Determination of drug-resistant bacteria in palmar surface and touchscreen cell phones from bystanders in an urban community

The dynamic microbiota of the human palmar surface (PS) is related to the various hygienic habits of humans and can be transmitted or exchanged upon contact with objects of daily use, such as the indispensable touchscreen cell phone (TCP); this interaction could allow the development of drug-resistant bacteria. The objective was to determine the drug-resistant bacterial contamination between PSs and TCPs in an urban community. Among the total bacterial colonies isolated and molecular and phylogenetically characterized based on the V4-V6 regions of the 16S rRNA gene from PSs and TCPs, the genera present in both types of samples were Staphylococcus (53.3 and 43.5 %, respectively), Bacillus (37.8, 37 %), Atlantibacter (2.2, 10.8 %) and Micro-bacterium (2.2, 4.3 %). The genera present in only one type of sample were Rothia, Paenibacillus, Escherichia and Micrococcus (2.2 % each). Resistance to penicillins (35.6-93.5 %) and nonsusceptibility to cephalosporins (8.9-37 %) and nitrofurantoin (13.3 and 15.2 %) were observed. The percentage of multidrug antibiotic resis-tance was 15.4 %. The prevalence of drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria in PSs and TCPs in the community could give rise to human health problems, and hygiene measures are recommended.

Automated summary

This study investigated the contamination of drug-resistant bacteria on the human palmar surface and touchscreen cell phones in an urban community. The results showed that the predominant bacterial genera in both types of samples were Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Atlantibacter, and Microbacterium. Resistance to certain antibiotics was observed. The findings suggest that the presence of drug-resistant bacteria in the community could pose a risk to human health, and hygiene measures are recommended.