Health care-associated infections persist as a major problem in many hospitals. User interfaces of patient data management systems (PDMS) in intensive care units (ICU) or in different wards of the hospital, like computer keyboard and mouse, may serve as reservoirs for transmission of microorganisms. We carried out a hospital based bacteriological surveillance of computer (i) to study the number and type of microorganisms found on computer keyboard and mouse (ii) to assess their role in being a source of nosocomial infection in hospital settings. A total of 120 swabs were collected from keyboards and mouse of computer used in various units of the hospital for microbial culture. The swabs were inoculated on culture media for isolation of various microbial pathogens. The microorganisms isolated were identified using standard methods. A total of 105 (88 %) of samples yield various microorganisms. Mostly the etiology was polymicrobial. Bacillus species was the predominant isolate followed by Corynebacterium species (Diptheroids), Staphylococcus species, Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was also found in 6.67 % cases. The results suggest that Keyboards and mouse harbor many pathogenic microorganisms.
