Food handlers as potential sources of dissemination of virulent strains of Staphylococcus aureus in the community》.pdfVIP

JIPH-470; No. of Pages 8 ARTICLE IN PRESS Journal of Infection and Public Health (2015) xxx, xxx—xxx Food handlers as potential sources of dissemination of virulent strains of Staphylococcus aureus in the community A. Castro, C. Santos, H. Meireles, J. Silva, P. Teixeira ∗ CBQF — Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina — Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal Received 10 April 2015; received in revised form 26 June 2015; accepted 29 August 2015 KEYWORDS Summary Food handlers may constitute a reservoir of virulent strains of Staphy- Staphylococcus aureus; lococcus aureus and may be vehicles of their transmission to food. Food handlers; One hundred and sixty-two volunteers were assessed for the presence of S. aureus Hands and nose on the hands and in the nose. S. aureus was isolated by routine procedures, and the carriage; isolates were tested for susceptibility against a panel of nine antimicrobial agents. The isolates were further characterized by SmaI-PFGE profiling and the presence of Antimicrobial virulence factors. resistance; Results: The prevalence of S. aureus was 19.8% in the nose and 11.1% on the hands; Enterotoxin genes 6.2% of the individuals carried S. aureus both in their noses and hands, and three individuals had the same strain (PFGE type) in the nose and on the hands. Although 82% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic, none demonstrated the presence of either mecA gene or resistance to oxacillin (none identified as MRSA).