Almost 40 % of mobile phones in a French hospital were found to be carrying traces of viral RNA , according to one survey , while another showed that 20 % of hospital staff admit they do n't follow hand hygiene procedures . Survey lead , Sylvie Pillet , and her team examined the mobile phones of 114 staff at the hospital and therefore the sample size was too small to make a link between mobile phones and risk of infection to patients . None of the devices showed traces of influenza or norovirus. Although there are strict regimes in place for the cleaning and sterilisation of healthcare devices , mobile phones cannot be overlooked . Elizabeth Botelho - Nevers , co - author , believes that the study should encourage hospitals to increase take - up of hand hygiene protocols and also give rise to better policies for the cleaning and use of mobile phones .
Almost 40 % of mobile phones in a French hospital were found to be carrying traces of viral RNA , according to one survey , while another showed that 20 % of hospital staff admit they do n't follow hand hygiene procedures . Survey lead , Sylvie Pillet , and her team examined the mobile phones of 114 staff at the hospital and therefore the sample size was too small to make a link between mobile phones and risk of infection to patients . Although there are strict regimes in place for the cleaning and sterilisation of healthcare devices , mobile phones cannot be overlooked . Elizabeth Botelho - Nevers , co - author , believes that the study should encourage hospitals to increase take - up of hand hygiene protocols and also give rise to better policies for the cleaning and use of mobile phones .