Candiselect

Definition of candidemia was in accordance with the revised definition of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (De Pauw et al., 2008 (link)). Isolates recovered within <30 days and those recovered within >30 days were considered as repetitive isolates and new cases, respectively (Blyth et al., 2009 (link)). The entire stay of respective patients following admission to discharge was considered for hospitalization duration, but not after the isolation of C. parapsilosis from blood samples (as this data was not available for all patients included in this study). Candida parapsilosis bloodstream isolates were retrospectively recovered from nine hospitals (2015–2019) located in three main metropolitan cities, including Tehran (two hospitals), Shiraz (two hospitals), and Mashhad (five hospitals). The majority of the isolates were from Mashhad (n = 60, 61.2%), followed by Tehran (n = 24, 24.5%), and Shiraz (n = 14, 14.3%). All patients manifesting candidemia due to C. parapsilosis species complex without any restriction were included in our study. Blood samples were incubated in Bactec devices (Becton Dickinson, MD, USA) and recovered isolates were grown on Sabouraud dextrose agar at 37°C for 24–48 h, and to identify samples with mixed Candida/yeast species, they were subcultured onto chromogenic agar (Candiselect, Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) at 37°C for 48 h.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the participants’ demographics, which included age, gender, knowledge about mobile contamination, and the duration of the participants’ mobile phone use. Other questions regarding their use of mobile phones at work and their perception of the potential role of clinicians’ mobile phones in spreading infections in hospital settings also appeared on the questionnaire.
The questionnaire also included questions on mobile phone hygiene practices; including the frequency of mobile phone disinfection and the disinfectant which clinicians used to clean their mobiles. Assessment of the preferred health-related behavior was based on The Multidemensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) - version B - by Wallston K.A., Wallston B.S., Devellis R., Polish adaptation by Juczyński [11 ].
Biological monitoring of mobile phone and hand surface contamination was performed with Count-TactTM applicator using Count-Tact plates (bioMerieux) containing a medium complying with the requirements of the Draft European Standard CEN/TC 243/WG2. CandiSelect (Bio-Rad) was used to identify yeast-like fungi. The mycological procedures were in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. In case of mobile phones with covers, the sample was taken from the outer surfaces of the cover in addition to the screen of the mobile phone.