There's Probably E.Coli On Your Cellphone

There's Probably E.Coli On Your Cellphone

This is a response from the latest news I got from WebMD. A study showed that 92% of the cell phones in U.K. had bacteria on them including E. coli. Aside from cell phones, they also inspected the hands of the owners and found out that 82% of them also had bacteria on them.

Of all bacteria, why only E. coli was mentioned?

E. coli comes from fecal bacteria which can survive for several hours. It normally resides in the colon without causing diseases but can be virulent. When that happens, it can cause a wide array of signs and symptoms depending on the site of infection like:

UTI

E. coli is the most common cause of urinary tract infection and accounts for about 90% of first UTI in young women. Signs and symptoms would include frequent and painful urination, urine that contains blood or pus.

Diarrhea

This is extremely common worldwide and affects infants or adults. Traveler’s Diarrhea affects adults from developed countries who travel to undeveloped countries especially when they have not developed immunity during their childhood. It can cause death when diarrhea results into severe dehydration.

Sepsis

This results when the body defenses are weak and E. coli reaches the bloodstream. Newborns are susceptible since they still lack antibodies.

Meningitis

E. coli is considered to be one of the leading causes of meningitis in infants.

Pneumonia

It also a common cause of hospital acquired pneumonia.

*By the way, E. stands for Escherichia and was named after Theodor Escherich, who isolated this type of bacteria. 

I hope this article helps
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