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Distracted Doctoring pp 189–200Cite as

Electronic Devices as Potential Sources of Biological Contamination

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Abstract

In today’s world, mobile phones have become an extension of our body. The volume of reported mobile phones has led to controversy between benefit and harm. We live, work, eat, and sleep with our devices and probably give little thought to the risk for potential bacterial contamination they can provide. Similar to the character Tommy’s experience in the song “Pinball Wizard,” we are dealing with a new form of sensory overload and not really understanding the potential infectious threats that mobile devices can carry. The role mobile devices play in our culture is huge, but their possible impact on infection control has yet to be adequately assessed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Francis Hospital – The Heart Center, Roslyn, NY, USA

    Roy H. Constantine PhD, MPH, PA-C

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  1. Roy H. Constantine PhD, MPH, PA-C
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Correspondence to Roy H. Constantine PhD, MPH, PA-C .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Rochester Medical Center, Pittsford, New York, USA

    Peter J. Papadakos

  2. Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, The University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

    Stephen Bertman

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Constantine, R.H. (2017). Electronic Devices as Potential Sources of Biological Contamination. In: Papadakos, P., Bertman, S. (eds) Distracted Doctoring. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48707-6_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48707-6_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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