Computers are ubiquitous in the universities and the keyboard and mouse devices of several users (students) and single user (staff) computers and have been shown to be contaminated with potentially pathogenic microorganisms. This study was carried out to isolate and identify microorganisms related to a computer keyboard and mouse devices positioned at administrative units and internet centres of the medical colleges in Duhok university and to assess the efficacy of Ethanol (70%v/v) as a disinfectant on the computer keyboards and mouse devices.
A total number of 200 bacteriological swabs were taken before and after disinfection with disinfectant ethanol (70%) from two different objects, 100 samples from the keyboards and 100 samples from the mouse devices. Nutrient agar, Nutrient broth, Blood agar and Mannitol Salt agar were used to inoculate the collected samples. The incidence and type of microorganisms isolated before and after disinfection was evaluated.
Our results showed a high degree of surface contamination with bacteria. Before disinfection with ethanol, computer keyboards and mouse devices, a total of 205 isolates comprising six bacterial species were recovered from these samples, the most frequencies of occurrence of the species were; Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli. Cultivation of swabs performed 10 min after disinfection has shown that ethanol (70%) as antibacterial disinfectant wipe led to a significant reduction of microbial contamination of surfaces.
The present study concluded that computer accessories might act as ecological vehicles for the transportation of possibly pathogenic bacteria in our environments. In addition, the need for increased attention among computer handlers on cleaning such surfaces and sufficient handwashing hygiene is strongly recommended by the authors. Keyboards and mouse devices may be successfully decontaminated with disinfectants; therefore they should be disinfected daily.
Key words: Computer Keyboards, Mouse, Bacterial Contamination, Disinfectant
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