Summary
Food handlers may constitute a reservoir of virulent strains of Staphylococcus aureus and may be vehicles of their transmission to food.
One hundred and sixty-two volunteers were assessed for the presence of S. aureus on the hands and in the nose. S. aureus was isolated by routine procedures, and the isolates were tested for susceptibility against a panel of nine antimicrobial agents. The isolates were further characterized by SmaI-PFGE profiling and the presence of virulence factors