Cell phones of hospital workers covered in dangerous, contagious viruses... and 20 percent of staffers don't wash their hands

naturalnews.com

Patients needing hospitalization are already in a vulnerable state. As soon as they make their way through the hospital doors, risk factors go up, and they are made even more vulnerable by their environment. Hospitals are a breeding ground for viruses and superbugs, the kind of pathogens that can severely affect an already immune-compromised patient.

According to a new study out of France, one fifth of hospital staff don't even clean their hands after handling their cellphones. Of the mobile devices tested in French hospitals, 38.5 percent tested positive for viruses. Doctors and nurses are carrying cellphones around which harbor viruses that cause stomach upset, nausea and respiratory illness that can lead to lung infections.

At the Saint-Etienne University Hospital in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France, scientists went in and swabbed the mobile phones that hospital workers used on a daily basis. One hundred and fourteen doctors and nurses participated, as the team of researchers investigated the potentially dangerous situation of virus transmission between caregiver and patient. The researchers found that 64 percent of healthcare workers used their phones on the job, and that 38.5 percent of their devices were contaminated with viruses.