The evaluation of porter rate among the employees working in catering companies

PURPOSEThis research has been done to determine porter rate (in terms of salmonella, shigella and parasite in human excrement, staphylococcus in nose, and streptococcus in throat) among the employees working in catering companies at Diyarbakir city center.METHODThis research which is cross-sectional was carried out between 15 November 2009 and 30 December 2009. Agriculture Directorate?s records show that there are 15 catering companies and 568 employees working in these companies at Diyarbakir city center. All employees of catering companies were target for sampling. Some employees were not included in this sampling, because they cater for institutions in city or counties at the wee hours and return to the company towards evening. So, at Diyarbakir, questionnaires were conducted to 252 person, nose and throat samples were taken from 237 person and also excrement samples were taken from 217 person. Chi-squared and fisher?s exact tests were used in statistical analysis. P<0.05 was taken into account for significance level as statistical.FINDINGSResearch staff?s ages vary between 14 and 59, and 93.7% of them are men. 41.0% of them are primary school graduate, 28.5% of them are secondary school graduate and 25.7% of them are high school graduate. It is determined that 6.9% of these employees do not have any health insurance and majority of them who have health insurance (77.4%) have SSK. 73% of them earn below 750 TL in a month. The great majority of the employees live in Diyarbakir city center (97.2%) and apartment house (70.2%). The average house size is 5.8±2.1. While 95.6% of the employees stated that they drink city water, 98.4% of them reported that they use rest room up to drain. 5.2% of the rest rooms were at outside of the houses. 7.3% of the employees stated that they have a pet and also 5.3% of them said that they deal with vineyards and orchards. In terms of their jobs, the majority of them (61.6%) are waitstaff and cook. 6.4% of them stated that they have had diarrhea in the last 15 days. 40.3% of them do not have porter check card. 81.5% of them stated that they have had porter check in the last 6 months and 18.5% of them had their last check before 6 months. It is determined that in employees? throat group A beta hemolytic streptococcus (AGBHS) carrier rate is 9.3%, in their nose staphylococcus aureus carrier rate is 7.6% and in their intestine parasite carrier rate is 7.4%. Salmonella and shigella have not been found in their excrement culture. 19,9 % of them were detected a carrier at the very leastRESULTSAccording to our research, 40.3% of the employees do not have porter check card. Employees having diarrhea have 14.1% times more parasite rate than the others who do not have diarrhea. In addition, risk of parasite is higher in excrement of employees whose rest room up to drain and is at outside.Staphylococcus aureus carrier rate in nose is 5.49 times higher in cooks than the other employees.Employees who have pets at their home have AGBHS carrier rate in their throat 4.5 times more than the others.KEY WORDS: Food Workers, Porter Check, Staphylococcus Aureus, Group A Beta Hemolytic Streptococcus, Intestine?s Parasite