Les maladies des mains sales : Le cas des batons de cigarette manipules

Abstract

Objective: To search microbes on manipulated sticks of cigarette sold on streets of Lome. Material and methods: A sample of 150 manipulated sticks of cigarette was selected with 50 street vendors. The filtered extremity and the non filtered extremity of sticks was examined in the laboratory: direct exam and culture. Results: Microbes was founded on the filtered extremities of 7 sticks of cigarette: 4.66% of all analysed cigarettes. We founded 4 cases of amoeba cyst, 2 cases of salmonella Typhi, 3 cases of Escherichia coli (with 2 associations Escherichia coli + amoeba cyst). None microbe was founded at the non filtered extremity of the sticks of cigarette. Conclusion: The results of our study show that sticks of cigarette manipulated by street vendors can be sources of microbes contamination. The education of these vendors on corporal and environmental hygiene is very important. Therefore, the protection of sticks in the cigarette packet will be a way of avoiding this risk of contamination.