[Biological analysis of workers in the food sector in north Lebanon]

ABSTRACT

We investigated the prevalence of bacterial and parasitic infections among workers in a pastry factory in North Lebanon in 2004. We found 39% of the workers [n = 196] had nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus. Resistance of S. aureus isolates was 98.7% to penicillin G, 24.7% to fusidic acid, 14.3% to pefloxacine and tetracycline, 11.7% to erythromycin, 6.5% to oxacillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate. Salmonella typhi was not found in any of the workers. Prevalence of intestinal parasites was 57.8% [n = 308]. Amoebae comprised 72.5% [68.3% Entamoeba coli, 15.5% E. histolytica], followed by flagellates [18.0 %] [37.5% Dientamoeba fragilis, 31.3% Giardia lamblia] and nematodes [7.8%] [only Ascaris lumbricoides]. The tuberculin test was positive in 16.3% of the workers [n = 301]