Conhecimento sobre parasitoses e boas práticas de manipulação em manipuladores de merenda escolar de Caicó- RN.

Abstract

Foodborne illnesses (DTAs) occur by eating food contaminated with chemical, physical or biological agents. Complications caused by enteroparasites cause several damages to humans, in which the following stand out: physiological, pathological, metabolic and social alterations. The mechanical manipulation of food due to lack of training of handlers, as well as lack of knowledge about the transmission of intestinal parasites, can impact food quality in general, representing a challenge for health managers. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the socioeconomic and hygienic-sanitary profile, as well as some knowledge about parasites and good handling practices in handlers of school lunches in the city of Caicó-RN. It was descriptive, cross-sectional study, where a semi-structured class was developed and applied to 54 school lunch handlers from 21 public schools in Caicó-RN in the period of September 2022. Simple percentages were calculated and the Fischer Exact Test was performed considering p<0.05. Among the 54 handlers, it was observed that 94.4% were female, with an average age of 45 years, where 31.5% had an income of up to one minimum wage and 18.5% had low education. Both the water used in the workplace (100%) and at home (96.3%) was adequate, however, 29.6% had inadequate sanitary sewage at home. Of the total, 72.2% answered correctly what parasitosis would be and 16.7% answered incorrectly. Of the total, 48.1% make the fruit and vegetable alcoholic drink at home. 98.1% performed the EPF at some time in their lives, with 15.1% built in the last year. Of the 54 handlers, 18.5% had never participated in training in good handling practices and 22.2% had been training for more than 3 years. A total of 43 (79.6%) are cooks and 33 (61.1%) have more than 5 years of service. In view of the above, it is necessary to offer educational programs to make professionals in this area even more qualified, to increase surveillance by health surveillance to reinforce periodic parasitological examinations and to verify whether the establishment is suitable for washing foods.