creators_name: Mukhopadhyay, Chiranjay
creators_name: Basak, Soham
creators_name: Gupta, Soham
creators_name: Chawla, Kiran
creators_name: Bairy, Indira
creators_id: chiranjay@yahoo.co.in
editors_name: Kakkilaya, Srinivas
editors_id: Kakkilaya BS
type: journale
datestamp: 2008-09-19 13:59:44
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:57:11
metadata_visibility: show
title: A Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Growth with Earphone Use
ispublished: pub
subjects: OJHAS
full_text_status: public
keywords: Bacterial profile, ear, earphone, student
abstract: Background: Recently the worldwide usage of earphones has increased especially among the school and college students who have a high rate of sharing among them. Alike airline headsets, headphones and stethoscope ear-pieces, ear phones can easily be a vector of potential pathogens, which can give rise to otitis externa. Purpose: To compare the bacterial growth of the external ear in association with earphone and assess the role of earphones as vector or microorganisms. Material and Methods: 50 voluntary male subjects (age 18-25 years) were chosen and divided into two groups, A and B, according to the use of earphones. Swabs were taken from their left ear and the left earpiece of the earphone. Samples were processed as recommended. Results: In group A, bacteria were found in 20 (80%) ear and 14 (56%) earphone swabs. In group B, bacteria were found in 23 (92%) ear and 17 (68%) earphone swabs. Group B showed heavy growth and a significant increase in the number of bacterial growths after frequent and constant use. Conclusion: Frequent and constant use of earphones increases the bacterial growth in the ear and sharing of earphones might be a potential vector of commensals. It is therefore, always better not to share or else to clean the earphones before sharing
date: 2008-07-21
date_type: published
publication: Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences
volume: 7
number: 2
publisher: Dr. B.S. Kakkilaya
refereed: TRUE
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citation:   Mukhopadhyay, Chiranjay and Basak, Soham and Gupta, Soham and Chawla, Kiran and Bairy, Indira  (2008) A Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Growth with Earphone Use.  [Journal (On-line/Unpaginated)]     
document_url: http://cogprints.org/6200/1/2008-2-4.pdf