PREVALENCE OF LISTERIA SPP ON THE HANDS OF FOOD WORKERS

The prevalence of carriage of Listeria spp. on the hands of food worke rs was investigated using a whole-hand impression plate technique. Nin ety-nine workers engaged in food production and retailing were studied , with 75 clerical workers acting as control. Twelve (12%) of food wor kers carried Listeria spp., and 7 (7%) carried Listeria monocytogenes. None of the control group was positive for Listeria spp. Where the le vel of carriage was low (<20 CFU) hand washing eliminated the organism s, but hand washing was not successful if larger numbers of bacteria w ere present. In two instances hand washing appeared to have caused con tamination of subjects' hands. Food workers are significantly more lik ely to carry Listeria spp. than clerical workers (P < 0.015 Fisher's e xact test) and frequent hand washing represents an important element o f hygiene which may interrupt transmission of these organisms.