NASAL CARRIAGE OF ENTEROTOXIN-PRODUCING STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS AMONG RESTAURANT WORKERS IN KUWAIT-CITY

Enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of staph ylococcal food poisoning. To determine the incidence of carriage of en terotoxin-producing S. aureus in a sample of the healthy population in Kuwait city, restaurant workers in the city were screened for nasal c arriage of S. aureus. 26.6% of 500 workers studied carried S. aureus a nd 86.6% of the S. aureus produced staphylococcal enterotoxins. 28% pr oduced enterotoxin A, 28.5% produced enterotoxin B, 16.4% produced ent erotoxin 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 grou ps I, II and III respectively. The results demonstrated a high level o f enterotoxigenic S. aureus carriage among restaurant workers which al though lower than that reported for the general population and hospita l workers may be important in the restaurant industry.