An outbreak of staphylococcal food poisoning in a nursing hostel, Mysore, Karnataka

Abstract

Objectives: To know the clinical profi le of the students affected due to food poisoning, the possible source of infection and the causative agent for food poisoning. Background: Food-borne diseases due to microbial contamination of food, represent serious threat to the health of millions of people henceforth, we investigated into the outbreak of food poisoning in a nursing hostel of urban Mysore. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured questionnaire to gather information on regarding time and type of food item consumed, onset of symptoms, presenting symptoms, medical care provided and time taken for recovery. A case for the outbreak was defi ned as any person who had consumed lunch on 9/12/12 from the implicated kitchen and had experienced vomiting or diarrhea or pain abdomen or all the three symptoms within 24 hours of eating lunch. Results: Out of 171 inmates,46 people suffered from food poisoning within a period of 3 days,thus leading to the attack rate of 26.9%.Commonest symptom reported among the students was pain abdomen (26.9%) followed by diarrhea. Highest risk of food poisoning was associated with consumption of "Kerala matta rice" This association was statistically signifi cant with relative risk of 31.49 (95% CI 10.82-95.6). Samples of 'Kerala matta rice" was subjected to bacteriological analysis, which showed colonies of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Conclusions: In the present outbreak, the results of investigation revealed that 'Kerala matta rice' was the food item responsible for occurrence of food poisoning due to Staphylococcus. Environmental factors that could have played an important role in bacterial proliferation and enterotoxin production are manual handling of cooked rice by the food handlers and storage of the rice at room temperature for a long duration between time of preparation and consumption. Abstract Access this article onlineWebsite: www.ijmedph.org

Ready-to-eat food sold in healthcare facilities could contribute to the increased disease burden of multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus

“…Foodborne diseases are increasingly considered a major public health concern globally (Kadariya et al 2014), and is particularly worrisome in developing countries where the majority of foodborne diseases are under reported (Odeyemi, 2016). For example, staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks have been reported in Switzerland (Johler et al, 2015), United States (CDCP, 2012), Italy (Ercoli et al, 2017;Guidi et al, 2018), Brazil (do Carmo et al, 2003, Australia (Fletcher et al, 2015), Japan (Suzuki et al, 2017), Germany (Johler et al, 2013), India (Basavegowda et al, 2014) etc, while the only reported study on staphylococcal food poisoning outbreak in Africa was reported in Zimbabwe (Gumbo et al, 2015). Interestingly, evidence exists on the practices that favour the proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus in retail ready-to-eat food (Wogu et al, 2011;Farhadian, 2022).…”

The surveillance and prediction of food contamination using intelligent systems: a bibliometric analysis

“…Foodborne outbreaks have been occurring for centuries and have continued to torment health authorities. Therefore, in addition to medical examination of the affected individuals, most researchers recommend the implementation of training programs in food safety to form a more comprehensive food control system (Manes et al, 2013;Basavegowda et al, 2014;Djekic et al, 2014;Gumbo et al, 2015). Forecasting foodborne disease outbreaks is a public health strategy that is multi-faceted with socio-economic benefits.…”