Food handlers with poor personal hygiene could be potential sources of infection due to pathogenic bacteria. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of bacterial infestation among the food handlers attending the public health center laboratory in Sari, northern Iran for annual check-up. This study was performed from September 2013 to August 2014. Stool samples, fingernail specimens of both hands and nasal swabs were collected from 220 male and female food handlers of different jobs, aged between 17-65 years. The samples were cultured on bacteriological culture media and bacterial species were identified following standard procedures. A structured questionnaire was used to record sociodemographic and behavioral data analysis of the food handlers. Of the total 220 subjects examined, 62.2% showed positive culture for different bacterial species from their fingernail contents, 65.4% were found to be harboring Staphylococcus aureus in their nostrils and 0.9% tested positive for Shigella boydii from stool samples. Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant bacteria isolated from fingernail specimens (46%), followed by Escherichia coli (29.2%), Coliforms (18.2%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.6%). This study showed a statistically significant difference in the rate of bacterial infestation between different occupational categories (p=0.04). Butchers showed the highest prevalence of bacteria (86.6%) in their fingernail contents, followed by fast food workers (76.5%), bakers (73.5%), chicken store workers (73%), school cafeterias staff (53.3%), restaurant workers (46.9%) and fruit/vegetables sellers (42.5%). The highest rate of nasal carrier for Staphylococcus aureus was observed among chicken store workers 14/17(20.8%). These findings indicate the need for intensive training/retraining and health education of all food service employees and strengthening the existing screening methods to control the problem of bacterial infestation in food handlers.

BackgroundMultidrug resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) have emerged as alarming nosocomial pathogens among patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit and burned patients. The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility of A. baumannii isolates, the carbapenems resistance patterns bla OXA-23 and also ISAba elements of A. baumannii isolates among burned and ICU patients in Tehran and Sari, Iran.MethodsIn this study, 100 A. baumannii isolates from burned and ICU patients in Tehran and Sari (Iran) during 2013 were tested for determination of antimicrobials susceptibility by the disc-diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar recommended by the guidelines of Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and frequency blaOXA-23 carbapenemase genes, and insertion elements ISAba genes were studied by PCR method.ResultsThe highest rates of susceptibility were observed with Colistin (88.7%), Tigecycline (82.2%), Imipenem (67%) and ISAba (32.2%). The extensively drug-resistance and pan drug-resistance were observed in 37.1% and 8.1% isolates, respectively.Results indicated among isolates resistant to Aminoglycoside and Carbapenem, the highest resistance was observed to Streptomycin (90%) ‚ and the most sensitivity was to Imipenem (67%).ConclusionsThis is the most study that attempted to detect Acinetobacter baumanii the insertion elements ISAba, bla OXA-23 and aminoglycosides resistance in MDR-AB isolates from burned and ICU patients in Iran. In a timely manner, antimicrobial resistance surveillance and strict infection control strategies are still lacking in burn ward and ICU in Iran, despite the alarming emergence of MDR-AB strains, particularly among those isolates that are not susceptible to Colistin. The results of this study are consistent with a recent report in which a number of combinations exhibited potent activity against Multidrug resistant strains of A. baumannii (MDR-AB).

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