Mobile phones: a forgotten source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Abstract

Dear editor, The emergence SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, has become a global health and economic concerns, embodying one of the most disruptive pandemic in more than a century. SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious via droplets, and could be spread by human contact as well as contaminated surfaces causing high morbidity and mortality burden (1). Consequently, the world's economy has shut down, and nearly one third of the worlds’ population has been forced to home confinement. With the deconfinment phase to start soon in different countries, educating the population to adopt preventive measures has become crucial to limit a second wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection. These measures include physical distancing, washing hands regularly with soap and water or sanitizers, avoid face-touching, and wearing facemask especially in public and crowded places. In addition, the use of mobile phone (MP) applications has been proposed to help track infected individuals. However, there is one caveat. MP could be a source of contagion higher than expected. In our opinion there is very little warning regarding this subject from public-health experts. In fact, it has been shown that MP could be colonized by microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi (2, 3) and even RNA viruses (4), as it could be the case with the SARS-CoV-2 which is also an RNA virus. Some authors have proposed that MP had amplified previous virus outbreaks like Ebola (5). SARS-CoV-2 is not an exception. In fact, it has been shown that this new virus can persist on inanimate surfaces like metal, glass or plastic for up to 9 days (1). Due to their excessive use (6), added to the fact that they are rarely cleaned after handling, MP could become a source of virus transmission through repetitive cyclic hand-face contamination (7). In addition, healthcare professionals do frequently use MP during their shifts, searching for medical information that could help them in their daily work. This could also be a source of nosocomial infection even in intensive care units (3, 8).To our knowledge, no study has yet addressed the issue related to SARS-CoV-2 transmission through MP. It could indeed explain an important part in the transmission of the infection to patients who claim adopting recommended safety measures. Hence, several measures should be endorsed to tackle the MP-related SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk. Disinfection with bactericidal wipes adapted to MP could not be completely effective, and specific sanitization protocols should be developed especially for healthcare workers' (3). Until then, it is crucial during the deconfinment phase to educate the population to limit the use of MP as much as possible, especially in public places and health care institutions. To our opinion, this procedure should be included in the recommended safety measures that are widely broadcasted through the media and science information thread.