Studies on Staphylococcus aureus amongst Food Handlers

Abstract

Food handlers play a major role in the transmission of food borne diseases which represents a global health burden. Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, in general, and enterotoxigenic strains, in particular, is an important risk factor for the contamination of food. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and risk factors of Staphylococcus aureus in nasal and hands of food handelers among food handlers working in 3 different food processing resturans .. Nasal and hand (right and left) swabs were collected from each food handlers. The swabs were inoculated on mannitol salt agar plates and incubated aerobically overnight. Identification of S. aureus isolates was done by Gram stain and biochemical tests. Out of 60 swabs investigated, 25(41.7%) were S. aureus. Of them11(18.3%) were nasal isolates, while the rest 14(23.3 %) were isolated from hands. When S. aureus was tested against some antibiotics, it was sensitive to erythromycin(100%), gentamicin (100%), and vancomycin (100%). But resistant to methicillin (80%). The obtained results should be of public health concern and highlights the need for primary health care and hygiene among food handlers.