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ATLANTA -- Pathogens responsible for food poisoning, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, were found in kitchen towels in homes in Mauritius after a month, a researcher said here.

After a month of normal use, which may have included hand washing, but not machine washing, S. aureus was isolated from about 14% of these towels while E. coli was isolated from 6% of these towels, reported Susheela Biranjia-Hurdoyal, PhD, of the University of Mauritius in Reduit, in a at the ASM Microbe meeting.

The research is part of a larger study examining kitchen and household hygiene, she told 番茄社区app. A by Biranjia-Hurdoyal and colleague found similar results when looking at bacteria on kitchen tables.

For the current study, the researchers purchased 100 kitchen towels -- 36 that were a mixture of cotton and nylon, 33 nylon, and 31 cotton towels, "depending on what people used locally," Biranjia-Hurdoyal said. Participants were allowed to use the towels for a month.

"Some use it to clean their tables, some use it to clean their plates -- whatever they want to do with it," she stated.

After a month, researchers cultured the towels, and the participants filled out a survey with demographic characteristics of the household, as well as detailing how the towel was used.

They found bacterial growth on 49% of kitchen towels. Biranjia-Hurdoyal characterized these results as not surprising and they "actually expected more." Also, bacterial growth increased significantly with increased family size, extended family, and presence of children, the authors said.

Almost three-quarters of the cotton towels had bacterial growth, followed by 42% of nylon towels and about a third of those that were a cotton/nylon mixture. Biranjia-Hurdoyal said this is because cotton is more absorbent, so "grease and food resides there longer and bacteria grow for a longer period of time."

Researchers also noted that the "humid" (or moist) towels had significantly greater concentrations of certain types of bacteria, such as Enterococcus spp., coliform and E. coli, with S. aureus also trending towards significance, compared with the dry towels.

Notably, S. aureus was isolated at a significantly higher rate from families of lower socioeconomic status and families with children, as well as bigger families and extended families compared with nuclear families. Coliform bacteria were found at a higher prevalence from families with extended family members living there (27.1% vs 9.6%, P<0.05).

The presence of these pathogens was significantly higher for towels that were reported for "multi-purpose use" compared with towels for single purpose use. There was no E. coli or S. aureus isolated from single purpose use towels compared to E. coli in 7.3% and S. aureus in 17.1% of multi-purpose use towels, respectively.

Biranjia-Hurdoyal noted that the results suggest that more public health education is needed about the frequent need to change kitchen towels, and the potential pathogens that they could be harboring.

"We have to wash our towel very often, maybe every other day, and we have to discourage the use of multi-use towels," she said. "People need to know there may be possible fecal contamination in your kitchen."

Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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