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The presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in food products is a major issue for food safety. The present study was conducted to evaluate the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profile of S. aureus, focusing on MRSA isolates, in ready-to-eat sashimi from Japanese restaurants in Salvador, Brazil. A total of 127 sashimi samples were collected directly from the take-out service in 16 restaurants. The staphylococcal isolates were identified morphologically and biochemically with standard laboratory procedures. S. aureus isolates were tested with a disk diffusion assay against seven antibiotics, and the cefoxitin and oxacillin were used to identify MRSA strains. Isolates with the MRSA phenotype were confirmed with a PCR assay. S. aureus was found in 73% of the sashimi samples, including sashimi from tuna (75.5% of samples) and salmon (72.5% of samples). Among those positive samples, 37% were contaminated with MRSA strains, found among 38.8% of salmon sashimi and 34.0% of tuna sashimi. Penicillin resistance was the most common type of antimicrobial resistance, found in 65.5% of the sashimi samples, followed by resistance to tetracycline (22.5%), erythromycin (16.0%), and ciprofloxacin (3.2%). Only two S. aureus isolates collected from different fish samples and restaurants had presumed resistance to vancomycin. The high prevalence of S. aureus and MRSA in these sashimi samples indicates a potential risk for foodborne disease, especially MRSA, spreading in the community. HIGHLIGHTS

The aims of this study were to evaluate the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on the hands and anterior nares of food handlers in public hospitals in the city of Salvador, Bahia, in northeastern Brazil and to evaluate the effectiveness of antiseptics for controlling contamination. Swabs from the nose and hands were collected from 140 food handlers in ten public hospitals, and methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) isolates were confirmed by assessing their growth on selective media, coagulase testing and evaluating their antibiotic susceptibilities. Seventy (50.0%) food handlers were colonized with coagulase-positive Staphylococci on their hands and/or nares, and 40 (28.6%) food handlers were colonized with MRSA. The evaluation of susceptibility to the most commonly used anti-MRSA drugs demonstrated that 72.9% of the isolates from the handlers' hands and 82.5% of the isolates from the anterior nares showed resistance to vancomycin. The presence of MRSA was not correlated with the specific job function of the food handlers (p > 0.05). The logistic regression analysis of the antimicrobial activity of antiseptics against MRSA isolates indicated that 2% chlorhexidine had a significantly higher removal rate than those of alcohol gel and 10% PVP-I (iodophor) (p

Texto completo: Acesso restrito. p. 26 - 213 Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-16T20:12:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 aaa5959.pdf: 282927 bytes, checksum: c49f686f030ca8a05cde6dabcd49fb2e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-16T20:12:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 aaa5959.pdf: 282927 bytes, checksum: c49f686f030ca8a05cde6dabcd49fb2e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices in food safety and the presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci species on the hands of food handlers in the municipal schools of Camaçari, Bahia in northeast Brazil. This study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, 166 food handlers were interviewed via a questionnaire to assess their food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices. In the second phase, the presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci species on the hands of food handlers was determined. The results indicated that most of the handlers had been trained (92.2%), but the level of knowledge was insufficient; the average proficiency score was