Fungal contamination of medical students' mobile phones from the University of Belgrade, Serbia: a cross-sectional study.

The study aimed to characterize fungal contamination of medical students' mobile phones, investigate mobile phones' usage and cleaning habits, identify independent risk factors for fungal contamination, and awareness of mobile phones as a potential route of infection. In a cross-sectional study, medical students' mobile phones were sampled for possible fungal contamination. The questionnaire was used to record mobile phone usage, cleaning habits, and awareness of mobile phones as a source of infection. A total of 492 medical students were included and fungal contamination of mobile phones was confirmed in 32.11%. The most frequent fungal isolates on students' mobile phones were Candida albicans (28.5%), followed by Aspergillus niger (11.4%), and Penicillium chrysogenum (9.5%). Factors independently associated with fungal contamination of students' mobile phones were: lack of mobile phone cleaning (OR = 0.381; p < 0.001), and usage of mobile phones near patients' beds (OR = 0.571; p = 0.007). The results of this study confirmed that students who use their mobile phones in hospital wards have a higher rate of fungal contamination. The development of active surveillance and preventive strategies is needed to reduce the risk of cross-contamination and increase awareness of fungal transmission via mobile phones.

Correlation of clinical characteristics, by calculation of SCIO index, with the laboratory diagnosis of onychomycosis.

INTRODUCTION: Onychomycosis is a chronic fungal infection with increasing incidence and the global prevalence is estimated to be 5.5%. The aim of our study was to perceive objectively severity of onychomycosis by calculating Scoring Clinical Index for Onychomycosis and to correlate this index with accurate laboratory diagnosis in our patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population comprised of 417 patients with laboratory confirmed onychomycosis. For each patient, we recorded basic demographic information, site of infection, the most affected nail with onychomycosis, clinical presentation, and type of onychomycosis. The evaluation of the disease severity was based on Scoring Clinical Index for Onychomycosis which was calculated for every patient separately. Mycological identification was done by microscopy and fungal culture. RESULTS: The majority of patients had distal and lateral subungual onychomycosis (95.44%) that was localized on big toe (62.59%), with female to male ratio 1.24:1. Male patients had significantly more nails affected with onychomycosis compared with female patients (p = 0.011), while female had significantly more often onychomycosis on fingernails 2-5 (p < 0.05), and they reported significantly more often pain (p < 0.05) and esthetic problems (p < 0.05). Mean Scoring Clinical Index for Onychomycosis was 16.76. Dermatophytes were most frequently isolated (91.85%). In patients with onychomycosis caused by dermatophytes, Scoring Clinical Index for Onychomycosis had significantly higher values (p = 0.032). CONCLUSION: Comprehensive understanding of disease characteristics will allow introduction of individualized treatment plan for each patient, based on proper fungal identification and standardized method of evaluating disease severity, which could help the patient achieve a complete cure.