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SUMMARYEnterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of staphylococcal food poisoning. To determine the incidence of carriage of enterotoxin-producing S. aureus in a sample of the healthy population in Kuwait city, restaurant workers in the city were screened for nasal carriage of S. aureus. 26-6% of 500 workers studied carried S. aureus and 86-6% of the S. aureus produced staphylococcal enterotoxins. 28 % produced enterotoxin A, 28&5 % produced enterotoxin B, 16-4% produced enterotoxin C and 355% produced enterotoxin D. Ten isolates produced both enterotoxins A and B or A and C. 73 % of the isolates were untypeable with standard phages. However, 17 1 %, 3 % and 6% belonged to phage groups I, II and III respectively. The results demonstrated a high level of enterotoxigenic S. aureus carriage among restaurant workers which although lower than that reported for the general population and hospital workers may be important in the restaurant industry.

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The sexuality of Kuwaiti Muslim women before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and 6 months after childbirth was studied. A group of 220 women attending the prenatal clinic of the Maternity Hospital Kuwait were randomly selected; 40 (18.2%) declined at the outset, 10 (4.6%) withdrew due to miscarriage and 10 (4.6%) due to failure to attend interviews. The semistructured interview was conducted by a female obstetrician at 4-week intervals starting from 12 weeks pregnancy to 6 months after childbirth. The study led to the following observations: (i) All the women were religious and abided by the Islamic rules and way of life. (ii) The diagnosis of pregnancy led to a decline in sexuality that continued throughout the pregnancy, with a second and early third trimester increase in sexuality but still below the prepregnancy baseline. (iii) Each woman had a consistent pattern of sexuality during pregnancy reflecting her prepregnancy level of sexuality. (iv) Younger age group, multiparity, low-level of education, lesser duration of marriage, and intention of breast-feeding characterized the sexuality pattern positively, as did attitudes towards sexuality during pregnancy and after childbirth. Breast-feeding mothers exceeded their prepregnancy level of sexuality earlier than bottle-feeding mothers.

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