Infectious diseases among food handlers

trichiura was the most common infection in the studied group. Continuous follow up and health education of food handlers have led to avoidance of outbreaks of infections among food consumers in the hospital. This study was carried out to find the prevalence and associated factors of communicable diseases especially parasitic infections among food handlers in King Fahd Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for early detection and proper management. This study was conducted as a preemployment examination on 52 new kitchen male workers with a mean age of 26.77+/-5.03 years. They were subjected to complete medical examination as well as some general and specific laboratory investigations as a food handler. Results of throat swab showed that 12% of the studied group were positive for group A beta haemolytic streptococci. Parasitological examination showed that seven subjects (13.5%) were infected. Out of them 3 only had single parasitic infections and 4 had double infections. Trichuris trichiura was the most common infection in the studied group. Continuous follow up and health education of food handlers have led to avoidance of outbreaks of infections among food consumers in the hospital.