Occurrence of pathogens on paper currency of Bangladesh and their public health importance
MMR Khalil1,3*, MS Alam1, MA Hossain1, AK Das2, S Islam2, Z Mia1,3
1Department of Microbiology, Gono Bishwabidyalay (University), Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
2Department of Microbiology, Stamford University, Dhaka-1209, Bangladesh
3Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
Bangladesh currency notes (Taka) were surveyed for microbial contaminations under this study. This study was carried out with one hundred paper currency notes collected from different occupational groups in Savar area. The old and dirty currency notes were selected as the chance of getting contaminants is high. The improper use of currency notes can play vital role in the transmission of diseases caused by the pathogens present on it. Our goals were to isolate and identify microorganisms present on currency notes and to observe their resistance pattern against common antibiotics. The currency notes of different values were collected from street hawkers, rickshaw pullers, bus conductors, beggars, shops in market, and different occupational groups in Savar area. The samples were analyzed for microbial contaminants. This study indicated that the presence of 5 bacterial Bacillus sp. (69%), Streptococcus sp. (7%), Staphylococcus aureus (15%), Pseudomonas sp. (6%), and Escherichia coli (3%) in the currencies. The all isolated bacteria were only found sensitive against gentamycin and ciprofloxacin was found active against Streptococcus, Pseudomonas and Escherichia coli. These isolated microorganisms from currency notes are highly pathogenic to human. Our study suggested that Bangladesh paper currency notes are commonly contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and improper use of these currencies may play potential role in transmission of pathogens responsible for different diseases in human. Care should be taken during handling of currency notes and creating awareness among people to minimize the diseases or infections transmitted by the currencies.
Key words: currency, taka, microorganism Bangladesh
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +88 01915614377
E-mail address: masudurrahaman@hotmail.com (MMR Khalil) Full Text (PDF)
