PREVALENCE, ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF SALMONELLA AND SHIGELLA SPECIES AMONG ASYMPTOMATIC FOOD HANDLERS WORKING IN HOSPITALS, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Food handlers with poor personal hygiene who work in food service facilities might become infected with various entero-pathogens. Salmonella and Shigella are the most common causes of food borne infections.A group of people who are with a weakened immune system like patients admitted in hospitalsare more likely exposed to food borne disease. However, there is limited data regarding foodborne diseases in hospitals food handlers in eastern Ethiopia.Objectives: To determine the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and associated factors of Salmonella and Shigella among asymptomatic food handlers working in hospitals, Eastern Ethiopia from May to June 2021. Methods: Institutionalbased cross-sectional study was conducted on 207 asymptomatic food handlers serving in hospitals, eastern Ethiopia. The selection of the participants was done by using a simple random sampling technique. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic characteristics and otherdata. The isolation of Salmonella and Shigella, as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing,was performed usingMacConkey, xylose lysine deoxycholate and Muller-Hintonagar media. The collected data were entered into Epi-info version 7 and Statistical Package for Social Science version 22 was used for descriptive statistics.Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to determine the strength of association between dependent and independent variables. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: Out of 207 asymptomatic hospitals food handlers, 11 (5.3%) were positive for SalmonellaorShigella species. Of these, Shigella species accounts 6(2.9%).The majority of isolates were resistant to Ceftazidime 9(81.8%) and Ampicillin 8(72.7%). The overall prevalence of multidrug resistance was 10(90.9%). Lack of hand washing practices after toilet use ( 2 = 29.15, P=0.001) and before eating food ( 2 = 36.19, P=0.001), whereas lack of training on food handlingpreparation ( 2 = 7.04, P=0.02) had a significant association with Salmonellaor Shigella infections.Conclusion: The prevalence of Salmonella and Shigella infections among asymptomatic food handlers working in the hospitalswas high. Continues personal hygiene, food handling and preparationtraining should be given to alleviate the risk of contracting Salmonella and Shigella infection