Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections Among Food Handlers and Microbial Safety of Ready-To-Eat Foods in Selected Orphanage Centers in Addis Ababa
Creators: name: Bedaso, Sintayehu
Publisher: name: National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia
Year: 2010

description: According to the Ethiopian Central Statistics Authority report, in 2004; there were about 436,726 orphan children by both parents throughout the country. Among those, Addis Ababa had 29,926 orphan children by both parents in the same year (ECSA, 2004) though recent statistical information could not be found. This indicates that a significant proportion of the total population have problem of having adequate food, shelter and clothes. However, in the capital city of Ethiopia, there are 99 orphanage centers that have signed agreement with the Bureau of Women &amp; Children's Affairs of A.A. Plenty of children orphan by both parents are still in trouble of having their basic necessities. In most cases the centers might give attention only to the availability of food but not of its safety. Thus, this study was designed to determine the microbiological safety of the RTE foods, the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among food handlers and the overall hygienic practices/facilities in food preparation. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to May 2010. Four orphanage centers were recruited for the study by simple random sampling technique. Standardized and structured questionnaire was used to gather information on the overall sanitary conditions of the centers. For the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections, all (40) food handlers were participated in stool examination through DFS technique. A total of thirty six RTE food samples were also collected from the centers and examined for microbial quality at EHNRI food microbiology laboratory in Addis Ababa. Standard methods were used to determine APC, total and fecal Colforms, Staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococci, and Lactic acid bacteria. Predominant colonies isolated from APC plates were characterized to different bacterial groups by morphological and physiological tests. EPI Info version 6 and SPSS statistical packages were employed for data management. The findings of this study showed that 14(35%) of the food handlers from all (four) orphanage centers were infected with one of either protozoan or helmintheic parasites. The most common intestinal parasitic infections encountered among these infected individuals were A. lumbricoides (50%), followed by E. histolytica (42.86%), G. lamblia (21.43%) and 10 Taenia species (7.14%). Improper food storage, poor personal hygiene and food handling practices of the food handlers and poor sanitary facilities were also the major defects observed. Fifty percent of the floor and 75% of the walls and ceilings of the kitchens were found in poor sanitary conditions. Accordingly, the predominant groups of bacteria isolated from the APC plates were Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Enterobacteriaceae. Finally it was concluded that the unacceptable limit of Staphylococcus and enterobacteriaceae in RTE foods indicating poor hygienic practices of the food handlers with improper temperature control and high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers were of unacceptable quality and safety of food in the centers.