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. 1996 Jun;116(3):319–322. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800052638

Nasal carriage of enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus among restaurant workers in Kuwait City.

M A al Bustan 1, E E Udo 1, T D Chugh 1
PMCID: PMC2271425  PMID: 8666076

Abstract

Enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of staphylococcal food poisoning. To determine the incidence of carriage of enterotoxin-producing S. aureus in a sample of the healthy population in Kuwait city, restaurant workers in the city were screened for nasal carriage of S. aureus. 26.6% of 500 workers studied carried S. aureus and 86.6% of the S. aureus produced staphylococcal enterotoxins. 28% produced enterotoxin A, 28.5% produced enterotoxin B, 16.4% produced enterotoxin C and 3.5% produced enterotoxin D. Ten isolates produced both enterotoxins A and B or A and C. 73% of the isolates were untypeable with standard phages. However, 17.1%, 3% and 6% belonged to phage groups I, II and III respectively. The results demonstrated a high level of enterotoxigenic S. aureus carriage among restaurant workers which although lower than that reported for the general population and hospital workers may be important in the restaurant industry.

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Selected References

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