title: Survey of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and intestinal parasites among food handlers working at Gondar University, Northwest Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food borne disease are major health problems in developing countries like Ethiopia. Food handlers with poor personal hygiene working in food establishments could be potential sources of disease due to pathogenic organisms. However; information on disease prevalence among food handlers working in University of Gondar cafeterias are very scarce. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, their drug resistance pattern and prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers working in University of Gondar student's cafeterias.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study was conducted among food handlers working in University of Gondar student's cafeterias. A pretested structured questionnaire was used for collecting data. Nasal swab and stool were investigated for S. aureus and intestinal parasites; respectively as per the standard of the laboratory methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 200 food handlers, females comprised 171(85.5%). The majority (67.5%) of the food-handlers were young adults aged 18-39 years. One hundred ninety four (97%) of the food handlers were not certified as a food handler. Forty one (20.5%) food handlers were positive for nasal carriage of S. aureus, of these 4(9.8%) was resistant for methicilin. Giardia lamblia was the most prevalent parasites 22 (11%), followed by Ascaris lumbricoides 13(6.5%), Entamoeba histolytica 12 (6%), Strongyloides stercolaris (0.5), Taenia species 1(0.5%) and Schistosoma mansoni 1(0.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding stressed that food handlers with different pathogenic micro organisms may pose significant risk on the consumers. Higher officials should implement food handler's training on food safety, periodic medical checkup and continuous monitoring of personal hygiene of food handlers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Biomedical and Laboratory Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar University, Gondar, Ethiopia. dagnewmulat@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mulat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dagnew
authors.forename: Moges
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tiruneh
authors.forename: Feleke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moges
authors.forename: Zinaye
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tekeste
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005511:Food Handling; D005522:Food Services; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D009666:Nose / Q000382:microbiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult