Molecular Epidemiology of Microorganisms Isolated from Food Workers and Enteral Feeding of Public Hospitals

• Published in: Journal of food science 2010-09, Vol.75 (7), p.M449-M454
• Main Authors: Borges, Liana J, Campos, Maria Raquel H, Cardoso, Juliana L, André, Maria Cláudia D.P.B, Serafini, Álvaro B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: animal pathogenic bacteria; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; antibiogram; antimicrobial activity; Bacteria; bacterial contamination; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil; Contamination; Diets; disease transmission; E coli; Electrophoresis; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; enteral feeding; Enteral nutrition; Enteral Nutrition - instrumentation; epidemiology; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - classification; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Escherichia coli - isolation & purification; Feeding; food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; food handling; Food industries; Food microbiology; food pathogens; food safety; Food science; food service workers; Food Service, Hospital - manpower; Food, Formulated - microbiology; Foodborne Diseases - prevention & control; foodborne pathogens; Foods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Hand - microbiology; Hospitals; Hospitals, Public - manpower; Humans; Hygiene and safety; liquid diet; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbiology; Microorganisms; Molecular biology; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Typing; Nasal Mucosa - microbiology; pathogen identification; phenotype; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - classification; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Staphylococcus aureus - isolation & purification; Staphylococcus infections; Strain; strains; Studies; Water Microbiology
• ISSN: 0022-1147; 1750-3841
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01751.x

This study aimed to compare strains of Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli isolated from food workers and enteral diet samples obtained from 2 public hospitals (H1/H2) in Goiania, Goias, Brazil, by the means of antibiogram and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In the H1, strains of S. aureus were present in 2 enteral diet samples and in 13 food worker swabs. Strains of E. coli were found in an enteral diet sample from H1 and in 2 enteral diet samples from H2 and in 6 food worker swabs in the H1 and in 12 food worker swabs from H2. According to the antibiogram, the 6 susceptibility profiles (A to F) of 15 S. aureus strains colonizing personnel and enteral feeding did not allow the identification of the probable source of diet contamination. All 20 E. coli strains isolated from the H1 and H2 were grouped in 4 phenotypic profiles (A to D). The phenotypes A (H1) and C (H2) showed the same profile for microorganisms isolated from handlers and diets, suggesting more phenotypic similarity among these samples. PFGE genotyping showed that S. aureus isolates from diets were related to a single strain isolated from a food worker suggesting that in this case the reason for the diet contamination may be a result of food handling. The food worker appears to be the most probable source of E. coli contamination for enteral feeding from H2. This fact emphasizes on the food workers as a risk of bacterial transmission for the diets and that the diet chain production must be controlled. The study emphasizes the importance of monitoring the enteral diet microbiological quality and the factors associated to its contamination. The study highlights the use of molecular biology as an instrument to correlate strains to determine the origin of the final product contamination.