Biomedical Science Letters (대한의생명과학회지)

The Korean Society for Biomedical Laboratory Sciences (대한의생명과학회)
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Colonization of Pathogens in Earphones and Observation of Effective Sterilization Methods and Cycles

  • Kwon, Hyeokjin (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Jeong, Myeongguk (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Go, Shinjee (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Kim, Yeojin (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Kim, Yein (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Kim, Yeeun (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Roh, Seungjun (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Lee, Seonggwang (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Choi, Go-Eun (Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan)
  • Received : 2022.09.19
  • Accepted : 2022.09.23
  • Published : 2022.09.30
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Abstract

The use of earphones has recently been widely used around the world. In currently, students wear earphones a lot in a daily life. The types of earphones are open-earphones, Canalphones, and headphones. Many students don't periodically to sterilization their earphones. Therefore, it can be an incubator that can induced ear infections. The objective of this study was to detect the pathogenic bacteria from the earphones used by the students. A total of 3 type earphones swabs were collected by sterile cotton swabs. The swabs were inoculated onto BHI agar and incubated aerobically 48 hour at 37℃. 16s rRNA PCR, electrophoresis and sequencing were performed to confirm the identification of all the bacterial isolates. As a result, 24 pathogens were identified in sequencing. Three types of earphones were sterilized in three ways: ultraviolet (UV), 70% ethyl alcohol, and antibacterial wet tissue. If you use earphones for a long time without disinfecting them for a long time, it causes various diseases such as external ear infections. The findings of this study the users periodically to sterilization their respective earphones.

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