|
| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
|
| Year : 2010 | Volume
: 54
| Issue : 1 | Page : 47-48 |
 |
|
Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections amongst food handlers in hotels and restaurants in Solapur city
Anant A Takalkar1, Narendra S Madhekar2, Anjali P Kumavat3, Shatrughna M Bhayya4
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, India
2 Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, India
3 Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Dr. V. M. Govt. Medical College, Solapur, India
4 Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, India
| Date of Web Publication | 29-Sep-2010 |
Correspondence Address:
Anant A Takalkar
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0019-557X.70557
How to cite this article:
Takalkar AA, Madhekar NS, Kumavat AP, Bhayya SM. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections amongst food handlers in hotels and restaurants in Solapur city. Indian J Public Health 2010;54:47-8 |
How to cite this URL:
Takalkar AA, Madhekar NS, Kumavat AP, Bhayya SM. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections amongst food handlers in hotels and restaurants in Solapur city. Indian J Public Health [serial online] 2010 [cited 2023 Mar 27];54:47-8. Available from: https://www.ijph.in/text.asp?2010/54/1/47/70557 |
Sir,
Parasites present a persistent and intolerable threat to the health of millions of people and the cost of hosting parasite in terms of human misery and economic loss is incalculable. Food handler is any person who handles food regardless whether he actually prepares or serves it. Food handlers with poor personal hygiene working in food serving establishments could be a potential source of infection of many intestinal helminthes, protozoa and enteropathogenic bacterias.
Therefore the present cross sectional study was conducted amongst 300 food handlers working in various Hotels and Restaurants in Solapur city during year 2004-2005 that aimed at assessing prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers and their personal hygiene. Hotels were graded as A, B and C as per the amenities available and norms laid down by Solapur Municipal Corporation health department. Out of 168 licensed hotels,84 were selected by systemic random sampling (Grade A-14,B-32 and C-38) and 100 food handlers each from Grade A, B and C were examined, 25 each were cooks, waiters, washers and helpers irrespective of grade of hotel, so that all category of food handlers were having equal chance of being examination. Total 237 males and 63 females were included in the study. Assessment of personal hygiene was done by using Jacob M. scoring system[1] and stool specimens were examined for intestinal parasites by using direct wet mount in normal saline and iodine and formol-ether concentration sedimentation method.
Only 276 food handlers were compliant for stool examination and 77 had intestinal parasitic infections having overall prevalence rate being 27.9% with Entamoeba histolytica (13.7%), Ascaris lumbricoides (6.5%) and hook worm (2.9%) which is almost comparable with Gupta et al[2] , Kale et al. [3] and Mohan et al. [4] Infections were most prevalent in 46.2% of washers and 42.4% of helpers [3],[5] . 51(17%) food handlers were having poor personal hygiene and bearing maximum burden of parasitic infection (68.6%). Strong association observed between personal hygiene of food handlers and intestinal parasitic infection (P<0.001).It is directly related to health especially for cooks and helpers who are directly handling raw as well as cooked food. The waiters are directly in contact with consumers, so they may be well dressed and having good personal hygiene, so their awareness about personal hygiene was better than helpers, washers and cooks. High prevalence amongst washers and helpers was attributed to high prevalence of unhygienic habits and poor personal hygiene. Findings alert for importance of personal hygiene and health education on intestinal parasitic infection and methods of their prevention and control. Study urges for strict application of ergonomical principles amongst food handlers of Solapur city.
 References | |  |
| 1. | Jacob M. Safe food handling, a training guide for manager of food service establishments, Geneva: WHO; 1989.  |
| 2. | Gupta SC. Prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers. Indian Medical Gazette; 1981. p. 295-8. |
| 3. | Kale AB. Personal communication: Prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers. Indian Medical Gazette; 1989. p. 289-91. |
| 4. | Mohan V. An evaluation of health status of food handlers of eating establishments in various educational and health institutions in Amritsar City. Indian J Community Med 2001;26:80-4.  |
| 5. | Sangole SS. Knowledge and practices of food handlers regarding food hygiene. Indian J Community Health 2001;7:34-40. |
| This article has been cited by | | 1 |
Prevalence of Amoebiasis and Associated Complications in India: A Systematic Review |
|
| Palak Gupta, Kiran Kumari Singh, Ashutosh Balodhi, Khushi Jain, Farah Deeba, Nasir Salam | | Acta Parasitologica. 2022; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 2 |
Food hygiene practices and determinants among food handlers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
|
| Demisu Zenbaba, Biniyam Sahiledengle, Fikadu Nugusu, Girma Beressa, Fikreab Desta, Daniel Atlaw, Vijay Kumar Chattu | | Tropical Medicine and Health. 2022; 50(1) | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 3 |
INTESTINAL PARASITE INFECTIONS AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS IN INHABITANTS OF THE CITY OF YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON |
|
| Djieukap LAURELLE, Herman Parfait AWONO-AMBENE, Christophe ANTONIO-NKONDJIO, Bienvenu BALIFELI, Chi Tchampo FRU, Cyrille NDO, Nicolas Félicien DOLOGUELE, Serge Hubert ZEBAZÉ TOGOUET, Flobert NJIOKOU | | International Journal of Health Services Research and Policy. 2022; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 4 |
Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Infections and Their Associated Factors among Food Handlers Working in Selected Catering Establishments from Bule Hora, Ethiopia |
|
| Sunil Tulshiram Hajare,Robe Kuti Gobena,Nitin Mahendra Chauhan,Feleke Erniso,Ettore Napoli | | BioMed Research International. 2021; 2021: 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 5 |
Socio-demographic influences on the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among workers in Qatar |
|
| Nadin Younes,Jerzy M. Behnke,Ahmed Ismail,Marawan A. Abu-Madi | | Parasites & Vectors. 2021; 14(1) | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 6 |
Intestinal parasitic infection among foreign housemaids in northwestern Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study |
|
| Najoua Haouas,Talal Alharazi,Asma Obaid Al Rasheedi,Rafat Zreiq,Fahad Algahtani | | Parasitology International. 2021; 80: 102208 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 7 |
Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Salmonella, Shigella, and Intestinal Parasites among Food Handlers in Motta Town, North West Ethiopia |
|
| Tibebu Yesigat,Mohabaw Jemal,Wubet Birhan | | Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology. 2020; 2020: 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 8 |
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Intestinal Parasitic Infections among Food Handlers at Prison, East and West Gojjam, Ethiopia |
|
| Azmeraw Asires,Moges Wubie,Alemayehu Reta | | Advances in Medicine. 2019; 2019: 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 9 |
Prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers of the city of Saqqez in 2016 |
|
| Mojtaba Shahnazi,Hiwa Abdollahpour,Mahmood Alipour,Mahboobeh Sadeghi,Mehrzad Saraei,Elham Hajialilo,Peyman Heydarian | | Journal of Parasitic Diseases. 2018; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 10 |
A 12-Year Retrospective Study of Invasive Amoebiasis in Western Sydney: Evidence of Local Acquisition |
|
| Ana Domazetovska,Rogan Lee,Chandra Adhikari,Matthew Watts,Nicole Gilroy,Damien Stark,Shobini Sivagnanam | | Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2018; 3(3): 73 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 11 |
Intestinal parasitic infections among expatriate workers in various occupations in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates |
|
| Abdelmunim Izzeldin Abdelrahman Dafalla,Shaikha Ali Salem Obaid Almuhairi,Mohamed Hassan Jasim AlHosani,Mira Yousif Mohamed,Mariam Ibrahim Ahmed Alkous,Mousa Abdelsattar AlAzzawi,Adam Dawoud Abakar,Bakri Yousif Mohamed Nour,Hayder Hasan,Raæed Omar AbuOdeh,Ali ElBakri | | Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 2017; 59(0) | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 12 |
PREVALENCE OF INTESTINAL PARASITES AMONG FOOD HANDLERS OF SARI, NORTHERN IRAN |
|
| Mehdi SHARIF,Ahmad DARYANI,Elham KIA,Fateme REZAEI,Mehrdad NASIRI,Mohtaram NASROLAHEI | | Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 2015; 57(2): 139 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | |
|
 |
|
|
|
