Carriage of Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus Aureus and Hygiene Practices of Food Workers

Abstract

To determine the enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus carriage rates and personal hygiene practices a total of 300 food workers participated, with 228 working in food businesses and 72 in hospital kitchens in Canakkale, Turkey. Participants completed a questionnaire about sociodemographic characteristics, hygiene practices, and food safety. Hand/nasal swabs were collected from the food workers. Inoculums were seeded on Baird Parker Agar. Multiplex PCR and ELISA methods were used. The enterotoxigenic S. aureus carriage rate was 14% of food workers. Out of the 125 S. aureus strains, 42 (33.6%) were positive for one or more SE genes. Furthermore, sea, seb, sec, sed, and sea+sed were found in 16.0%, 6.4%, 9.6%, 6.4%, and 4.8% respectively. SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, and SEE were found at rates of 14.4%, 7.2%, 12.8%, 11.2%, and 20.8%. It was determined that as the education level of food workers increased, the S. aureus carrier rate decreased. The carrier rate was found to be higher in those who use gloves than those who do not. Hand carriers were determined more in nasal carriers (p<0.05). Food workers who are carriers of enterotoxigenic S. aureus are a risk factor for food contamination. Training food workers on personal hygiene can be effective in preventing food poisoning.

Keywords

• Food workers
• Enterotoxine
• Staphylococcus aureus carriage
• Hygiene practices.

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