Food handler-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in public hospitals in Salvador, Brazil

•We assessed the presence MRSA on the hands and anterior nares of food handlers.•Effectiveness of antiseptics in the control of the MRSA was evaluated.•There were 40 (28.6%) food handlers colonized with MRSA.•Logistic regression indicated that 2% chlorhexidine had higher removal rates in MRSA.•Control measures should be adopted in the handling of foods in the hospitals.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on the hands and anterior nares of food handlers in public hospitals in the city of Salvador, Bahia, in northeastern Brazil and to evaluate the effectiveness of antiseptics for controlling contamination. Swabs from the nose and hands were collected from 140 food handlers in ten public hospitals, and methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) isolates were confirmed by assessing their growth on selective media, coagulase testing and evaluating their antibiotic susceptibilities. Seventy (50.0%) food handlers were colonized with coagulase-positive Staphylococci on their hands and/or nares, and 40 (28.6%) food handlers were colonized with MRSA. The evaluation of susceptibility to the most commonly used anti-MRSA drugs demonstrated that 72.9% of the isolates from the handlers' hands and 82.5% of the isolates from the anterior nares showed resistance to vancomycin. The presence of MRSA was not correlated with the specific job function of the food handlers (p > 0.05). The logistic regression analysis of the antimicrobial activity of antiseptics against MRSA isolates indicated that 2% chlorhexidine had a significantly higher removal rate than those of alcohol gel and 10% PVP-I (iodophor) (p < 0.05); only 2.2% of the MRSA strains were resistant to chlorhexidine.