A Study on Identification of Bacterial Contamination in the Headphones among Students Using Mobile Phones

Geetha P, S. Anirudh, Dr. S.N Suresh*, J. Merlyn.
PG & Research Department of Biotechnology, Sree Narayana Guru College, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.

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This study was conducted to assess the bacterial contamination on mobile phone headsets among students. Mobile phone headsets were sampled by mean of sterile cotton swabs moistened in sterile normal saline. The swabs were cultured on nutrient agar to determine the bacteria through pour plate method. The isolated bacterial were identified by colony morphology, Gram stain and biochemical test. Among 50 voluntary of both male and female high bacterial load was observed in male volunteers (20 ears) compared to male (10 ears) and also both gram positive and negative bacteria was isolated. Due to high usage and sharing of headphones the bacterial load was high among males when compared to females. It is advised to maintain headphones clean and not to share.
Keywords: bacterial contamination, biochemical test, Gram stain