{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T19:14:13Z","timestamp":1772219653884,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772150400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Despite food handlers\u2019 crucial role in pathogen transmission, current data on intestinal parasites and antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance patterns of enteric bacteria among food establishment workers in Bule Hora town are notably limited. This knowledge gap hinders effectiveness of public health interventions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aimed to assess the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profile of intestinal parasites, enteric bacteria, and associated factors among food handlers in Bule Hora town food and drinking establishments.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We employed a cross-sectional study design to assess the health status of food handlers. Data were collected utilizing both a semi-structured questionnaire to gather self-reported information and an observational checklist to assess practices and environmental factors. A total of 375 stool samples were collected from the participating food handlers. These samples underwent laboratory examination for the identification of bacterial and parasitic pathogens. To determine factors independently associated with the health status of food handlers, multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed. Adjusted odds ratio together with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were used to measure the association and p value\u2009&lt;\u20090.05 was used to declare the statistical significance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Result<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Overall, 147(39.2% (95% CI: 34.26, 44.14)) prevalence of intestinal parasites and 50 (13.3%) (95%CI: 9.2\u201319.7) prevalence of bacteria was found in this study. The most predominant parasite was\n                      <jats:italic>Ascaris lumbricoid (51.1%)<\/jats:italic>\n                      and the most frequently reported an enteric bacterium was\n                      <jats:italic>Salmonella<\/jats:italic>\n                      39 (78%). Out of 39\n                      <jats:italic>Salmonella<\/jats:italic>\n                      isolates, 20.5% showed multidrug resistance, while none of the 11\n                      <jats:italic>Shigella<\/jats:italic>\n                      isolates were multidrug resistant. From multivariable binary logistic analysis, unable to read and write (AOR\u2009=\u20091.96, 95% CI 1.18, 3.26), not trimming fingernails (AOR\u2009=\u20092.52; 95% CI: 1.20, 9.55), not washing hand with soap after toilet (AOR\u2009=\u20092.27, 95% CI 1.17, 4.42), and eating raw food (AOR\u2009=\u20091.62, 95% CI 1.39, 5.00) have a significant association with the prevalence of bacteria and parasites.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Intestinal parasites and bacteria were among the leading causes of morbidity in the study area. Educational status, eating raw vegetables or fruit, hand washing after the toilet, and fingernail trimming show significant associations with the health status of food handlers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0342489","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T18:26:36Z","timestamp":1772216796000},"page":"e0342489","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Magnitude, resistance profiles, and risk factors of intestinal parasites and enteric bacteria among food handlers in West Guji Zone, Ethiopia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0750-651X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lechisa","family":"Asefa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gudeta","family":"Kumela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Habtamu","family":"Roba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Angefa","family":"Ayele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gedeno","family":"Karbana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Degefa","family":"Dhengesu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hailu","family":"Lemma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9809-3326","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Anteneh","family":"Fikrie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]]},"reference":[{"issue":"14","key":"pone.0342489.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5129","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17145129","article-title":"Food-Borne Disease Prevention and Risk Assessment","volume":"17","author":"E Todd","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342489.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17010070","article-title":"Prevention and Control of Foodborne Diseases in Middle-East North African Countries: Review of National Control Systems","volume":"17","author":"D Faour-Klingbeil","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0342489.ref003","first-page":"1","article-title":"Cost of foodborne illnesses: a literature review","author":"AZE Kassem","year":"2018","journal-title":"Food Saf Sci Heal Behav"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0342489.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.5897\/AJFS2013.1064","article-title":"Review on food safety system: Ethiopian perspective","volume":"7","author":"H Ayalew","year":"2013","journal-title":"Afr J Food Sci"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0342489.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"959","DOI":"10.4315\/JFP-19-548","article-title":"Food Attribution and Economic Cost Estimates for Meat- and Poultry-Related Illnesses","volume":"83","author":"RL Scharff","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Food Prot"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342489.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-020-8167-1","article-title":"Intestinal parasites among food handlers of food service establishments in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"20","author":"Y Yimam","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0342489.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Belina D, Hailu Y, Gobena T, Hald T, Murigu P, Njage K. 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