Evaluation of nose, throat and stool culture results of food sector employees

Abstract

Objective: In this cross-sectional study, it was aimed to evaluate the results of nasal, throat and stool culture results of people who applied to a Family Medicine Clinic of a Training and Research Hospital to work in the food sector.

Methods: Demographic data such as age, sex and nose, throat and stool culture results of individuals who applied to Karabuk University Training and Research Hospital Family Medicine clinic for requesting workable report in the food industry between January 2017 and November 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.

Results: Of the 971 individuals included in the study, 38.2% (n = 371) were female, 61.8% (n = 600) were male, and the mean age was 32.0 ± 11.1 years. It was seen that most of the individuals with culture growth were in the 20-39 age range and the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage in the nasal culture was found to be statistically significantly higher in female individuals (p<0.001). In 2.9% of individuals in the throat culture Group A Beta Hemolytic Streptococcus showed carriage. Although the frequency was higher in the 20- 39 age range, no statistically significant difference was found between the age and sex groups. Only 5 (0.5%) males aged 20-39 years were found to have Shigella spp positivity in the stool culture, while none of them had Salmonella spp.

Conclusion: Nasal MRSA carriage was observed mostly in female individuals in food sector workers, but no difference was found between genders in terms of Group A Beta Hemolytic Streptococcus carriage in throat. The number of individuals with Shigella spp growth in stool culture was small but all were male. According to these results, it may be considered that porter screening is still necessary in developing countries like our country.