Current Perspectives on Viable but Non-culturable Bacteria in Food Safety and Public Health

Abstract

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the larval stage of the Echinococcus granulosus, is a common human and animal disease that occurs worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of patients with hydatid cyst in surgical cases from 2001 to 2019 in Qom hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Qom province, the center of Iran, from 2001 to 2019. The study population included all cases with hydatid cyst who operated in governmental and private hospitals. The participants’ characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, place of residence, organ involved, clinical signs and, diagnosis and treatment methods were collected using a questionnaire. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS (version 23) software package. Results: The results revealed that 53.21% and 46.79% of patients were females and males, respectively. Most cases were uban residents (57.69%), and 62.18% of them were housewives. Liver involvement was the most common localization of hydatid cysts reported in 73.7% of patients. The main diagnostic procedures were computed tomography scanning and indirect hemagglutination (IHA). Abdominal pain was reported in 62.2% of cases, and the most common treatment method for the disease was surgical (84.6%). Further, recurrence occurred in 13.47% of patients. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the majority of patients with CE were housewives. Therefore, proper washing of fruits and vegetables is very important. To prevent the occurrence of CE, the public awareness level should be increased. In addition, educational programs must be conducted by the Ministry of Health to identify whether the control measures are needed in the high risk population.

Quantitative Detection of Viable but Nonculturable Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Frozen Bivalve Molluscs

“…Several types of stressful conditions may induce the VBNC state in foodborne pathogens, including freezing, refrigeration, cooking, fermentation, and additive addition [ 42 ]. In addition, some food processing techniques, including high-pressure processing, electrolyzed water, pulsed electric field, pulsed light, nonthermal plasma, irradiation, ozone, and thermosonication [ 43 , 44 , 45 ] may also induce bacteria into the VBNC state [ 46 ]. To date, more than 100 bacterial and fungal species, most of which are pathogenic, have been found to enter the VBNC state in several foods, such as milk, dairy products, meat and meat products, seafoods, fruits and vegetables, juices, wine, and beer [ 47 , 48 ].…”