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Abstract(s)
Food handlers may constitute a reservoir of virulent strains of Staphy-lococcus aureus and may be vehicles of their transmission to food.One hundred and sixty-two volunteers were assessed for the presence of S. aureuson the hands and in the nose. S. aureus was isolated by routine procedures, and theisolates were tested for susceptibility against a panel of nine antimicrobial agents.The isolates were further characterized by SmaI-PFGE profiling and the presence ofvirulence factors.Results: The prevalence of S. aureus was 19.8% in the nose and 11.1% on the hands;6.2% of the individuals carried S. aureus both in their noses and hands, and threeindividuals had the same strain (PFGE type) in the nose and on the hands. Although82% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic, none demonstrated thepresence of either mecA gene or resistance to oxacillin (none identified as MRSA).Sixty-eight percent of the isolates from the nose and hands possessed enterotoxingenes.This study revealed a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance and virulence deter-minants among the isolates, including not only classical and novel enterotoxin genesbut also major virulence factors such as tst. Potential dissemination of these strainsin the community is a matter of concern.© 2015 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by ElsevierLimited. All rights reserved
Description
Keywords
Staphylococcus aureus Food handlers Hands and nosecarriage Antimicrobialresistance Enterotoxin genesSummary
Pedagogical Context
Citation
CASTRO, A.; SANTOS, C.; MEIRELES, H.; SILVA, Joana; TEIXEIRA, Paula - Food handlers as potential sources of dissemination of virulent strains of Staphylococcus aureus in the community. Journal of Infection and Public Health. ISSN 1876-0341. (2016) vol. 9, nº 2, p. 153–160 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2015.08.001
Publisher
Elsevier