Xiao Jingyi, Bueno de Mesquita P Jacob, Leung Nancy H L, Adenaiye Oluwasanmi, Tai Sheldon, Frieman Matthew B, Hong Filbert, Chu Daniel K W, Ip Dennis K M, Cowling Benjamin J, Milton Donald K
WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2021 Nov 22;224(10):1730-1734. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab464.
Mobile phones are among the most highly touched personal objects. As part of a broader study on the contribution of fomites to influenza transmission, between 2017 and 2019, we swabbed mobile phones from 138 patients with influenza in 2 locations. Influenza viral RNA detection rates were 23% (23 of 99 phones) and 36% (14 of 39) in Hong Kong and Maryland, respectively. In Hong Kong, infectious influenza virus was recovered from 3 of 23 mobile phones which had influenza viral RNA detected. Mobile phone influenza contamination was positively associated with upper respiratory tract viral load and negatively associated with age. Cleaning personal objects of patients with influenza should be recommended, and individuals should avoid sharing objects with these patients.
