Introduction: Evaluation of susceptibility of isolated fungi as well as the type and activity of enzymes they release allows to determine their pathogenicity. Purpose; To assess potential correlations between drug susceptibility and enzymatic activity of strains isolated from mobile phone and hand surfaces Materials and methods: The mycological evaluation included 175 mobile phones and 175 hands of the phone owners. Drug susceptibility was assessed using the FUNGITEST; enzymatic activity was evaluated using the API ZYM test. Results: We found significant correlations between an increased resistance to 5-fluorocytosine, ketoconazole, fluconazole and higher activity of six selected enzymes for Candida glabrata strains isolated from hand surfaces. We found also significant correlations between an increased resistance to 5-fluorocytosine, ketoconazole, miconazole, itraconazole and higher activity of six selected enzymes for Candida albicans strains isolated from hand surfaces. We found significant correlations between an increased resistance to 5fluorocytosine, ketoconazole, itraconazole, fluconazole and higher activity of six selected enzymes for Candida krusei strains isolated from hand surfaces as well as an increased resistance to 5-fluorocytosine, ketoconazole, itraconazole, fluconazole and higher activity of five selected enzymes for strains isolated from phone surfaces. Conclusions: We found varying correlations between enzymatic activity and drug resistance depending on the site of isolation and the species/genus of fungi. The drugs to which the evaluated strains showed resistance were the same for hand and mobile phone isolates.
Introduction: The mycological literature currently devotes much attention to the issue of reduced fungal susceptibility to commonly used antifungal drugs. Purpose: To assess drug susceptibility of Candida strains isolated from samples collected from the surfaces of mobile phones and the hands of their owners. A total of 175 mobile telephones belonging to students and lecturers of the Medical University of Bialystok and University Hospital personnel as well as 175 hands of these phone owners were included in the mycological evaluation. Results: The rate of Candida contamination of personal mobile phones was more than 70.0%. C. glabrata strains were primarily isolated from the collected material (89.1% - hands; 74.9% - mobile phones). C. albicans strains showed susceptibility to most antimycotics, with the highest susceptibility to 5-fluorocytosine, and the lowest to fluconazole. C. glabrata showed the lowest susceptibility to fluconazole and miconazole, and the highest to ketoconazole. C. krusei were relatively very sensitive to antibiotics, except for fluconazole. None of the isolated strains showed resistance to more than three types of drugs. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that mobile phones are potentially vehicles for pathogenic Candida strains in a university and hospital settings.
Introduction: The consistently growing number of mobile phone users has contributed to increasing interest in the effects of mobile phones on human health. Purpose: To assess the preferred health behaviors of mobile phone users. Materials and methods: The study included 175 mobile phone users and used standardized tools, such as the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale and the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI). Results: Most respondents had an impact on their own health (avg. 26.9 points). Respondents showed the highest level of health behaviors in relation to attitude, whereas the lowest level towards health practices. We distinguished three groups in the study population: with high (14.9%), low (47.4%), and average (37.7%) levels of health behaviors. We cannot unequivocally state that there is a statistically significant correlation between the occurrence of certain fungal genera/species on mobile phone and hand surfaces and the health locus of control. Conclusions: The respondents themselves mainly had an impact on their own health, and those in favor of this opinion attached greater importance to washing their hands. Respondents showed the highest level of health behaviors in relation to mental attitude, whereas the lowest level towards preferred health practices. Almost half of the respondents showed low levels of health behaviors, whereas almost every seventh respondent had high levels of health behaviors. No significant relationship was shown between the preferred health behaviors and the frequency of washing hands, the number of colonies and the isolation frequency of fungal strains collected from the surfaces of mobile phones and the hands of their owners.
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