Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant nasal carriage in food handlers in Lebanon: a potential source of transmission of virulent strains in the community

Marwan Osman; Khadija Kamal-Dine; Khaled El Omari; Rayane Rafei; Fouad Dabboussi; Monzer Hamze

doi:10.1099/acmi.0.000043

Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant nasal carriage in food handlers in Lebanon: a potential source of transmission of virulent strains in the community

Access Microbiol. 2019 Aug 19;1(6):e000043. doi: 10.1099/acmi.0.000043. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Marwan Osman¹, Khadija Kamal-Dine¹, Khaled El Omari^{1

2}, Rayane Rafei¹, Fouad Dabboussi¹, Monzer Hamze¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire Microbiologie Santé et Environnement (LMSE), Doctoral School of Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Tripoli, Lebanon.
² Quality Control Center Laboratories at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture of Tripoli & North Lebanon, Tripoli, Lebanon.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and virulence determinant genes of nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus among food handlers in Tripoli, Lebanon.

Methodology: Within a cross-sectional study design, nasal swab specimens were collected. Epidemiological and microbiological investigations were performed through conventional culture and MALDI-TOF-MS. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns and genetic virulence determinants including enterotoxin genes were also investigated for all isolates.

Results: The data herein show that S. aureus nasal carriage is highly prevalent (23.8 %), and that the rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) carriage was twice as high as in our last report in 2008. Several enterotoxin genes were detected in five isolates including one MRSA and four methicillin-sensitive S. aureus .

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first investigation in the last decade to examine the carriage prevalence of S. aureus among food handlers in Lebanon. This work reports a concerning level of MRSA, and enterotoxin-producing S. aureus nasal carriage, which could potentially act as a contamination reservoir and lead to food poisoning.

Keywords: Lebanon; Staphylococcus aureus; enterotoxin producing Staphylococcus aureus; epidemiology; food handlers; food poisoning; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.