Assessment of microbial contamination of indian currency notes in circulation – An In vitro study

Sunil, Sruthi; Panchmal, Ganesh Shenoy; Shenoy, Rekha P; Kumar, Vijay; Jodalli, Praveen; Somaraj, Vinej

doi:10.4103/jiaphd.jiaphd_77_19

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…More generally, all the recovered bacteria are considered opportunistic or strictly pathogens and represent a threat of infectious diseases among the population, particularly in immunocompromised subjects. These conclusions agree with similar and recent reports from other parts of the world ( Firoozeh et al 2017 ; Ejaz et al 2018 ; Sunil et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

“…In this study, the overall bacterial contamination (100% of the banknotes) was higher than that of similar studies conducted in Iran ( Firoozeh et al 2017 ), Croatia ( Belić et al 2017 ), Cameroon ( Akaouchere et al 2014 ), and Pakistan ( Ejaz et al 2018 ) reporting 77%, 78%, 94%, and 97% of contaminated banknotes, respectively, but comparable to the 100% rate of contaminated notes retrieved in Sudan ( Abd Alfadil et al 2018 ), and in India ( Sunil et al 2020 ). The high rates of bacterial contamination found in Algerian currency could be explained by necessary money handling as most commercial services are paid in cash.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…Indeed, unhygienic habits like improper hand washing after using the toilets, coughing, or sneezing on hands, and, then exchanging money leads to contamination of the next user. The potential of currency to act as a vehicle for communicable diseases has been investigated since the early 1970s ( Abrams and Waterman, 1972 ) and continues to draw attention worldwide ( Gabriel et al 2013 ; Akoachere et al 2014 ; Firoozeh et al 2017 ; Abd Alfadil et al 2018 ; Ejaz et al 2018 ; Sunil et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multidrug-resistant Opportunistic and Pathogenic Bacteria Contaminate Algerian Banknotes Currency

Djouadi

Guezlane-Tebibel

Mansouri

et al. 2020

Polish Journal of Microbiology

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Currency is one of the most exchanged items in human communities as it is used daily in exchange for goods and services. It is handled by persons with different hygiene standards and can transit in different environments. Hence, money can constitute a reservoir for different types of human pathogens. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of Algerian banknotes to shelter opportunistic pathogenic and multiresistant bacteria. To that end, 200 circulating notes of four different denominations were collected from various places and analyzed for their bacterial loads and contents. Besides, predominant strains were identified and characterized by biochemical and molecular methods, and their resistance profiles against 34 antibiotics were determined. Our results indicated that 100% of the studied banknotes were contaminated with bacteria. The total bacterial concentrations were relatively high, and different bacterial groups were grown, showing important diversity. In total, 48 predominant strains were identified as belonging to 17 genera. Staphylococcus and Micrococcus were the most prevalent genera, followed by Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Acinetobacter. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that all the isolates harbored resistance to at least two molecules, and worrying resistance levels were observed. These findings prove that Algerian currency harbors opportunistic multiresistant bacteria and could potentially act as a vehicle for the spread of bacterial diseases and as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes among the community. Therefore, no cash payment systems should be developed and generalized to minimize cash handling and subsequent potential health risks.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Multidrug-resistant Opportunistic and Pathogenic Bacteria Contaminate Algerian Banknotes Currency

Djouadi

Guezlane-Tebibel

Mansouri

et al. 2020

Polish Journal of Microbiology

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“…This has a dire global health consequence and is incumbent to check the disease transmission and antibiotic resistance via fomites [ 12 , 22 ]. Global surveillance showed there is a widespread antibiotics resistance [ 18 , 23 , 24 ] including drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae , vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa [ 17 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Contaminants and Antibiogram of Ghana Paper Currency Notes in Circulation and Their Associated Health Risks in Asante-Mampong, Ghana

Yar

2020

International Journal of Microbiology

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Transmission of pathogens through currency notes has become very relevant in today’s world due to COVID-19 pandemic. This study profiled microbial flora and their antibiotic activities from Ghana paper currency (GH¢) notes in circulation in Mampong Municipal of Ashanti Region, Ghana. The study employed a cross-sectional design to assess bacterial contaminants and their antibiotic activities from January to May 2019. A total of 70 GH¢ notes consisting of 15 each of GH¢1, GH¢2, and GH¢5; 10 each of GH¢10 and GH¢20; and 5 of GH¢50 were randomly sampled from persons at different shops, canteens, and commercial drivers. The surfaces of each GH¢ note were gently swabbed, and tenfold serial dilutions made were inoculated on plate count agar (PCA), MacConkey agar, mannitol salt agar, and deoxycholate citrate agar. The study used appropriate laboratory and biochemical tests for bacterial identification. SPSS-IBM version 16.0 was used to analyze the data. Of the 70 GH¢ notes studied, 97.1% were contaminated with one or more bacterial isolates. Mean counts on PCA ranged between 3.2 cfu/ml × 105 and 4.7 cfu/ml × 105 on GH¢ notes. Of 124 bacteria isolated, 34 (27.4%), 30 (24.2%), 22 (17.7%), 17 (13.7%), 13 (10.5%), and 8 (6.5%) were from GH¢1, GH¢2, GH¢10, GH¢5, GH¢20, and GH¢50, respectively (p<0.05). Bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (28.23%), Staphylococcus aureus (16.94%), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (16.13%), Klebsiella species (11.29%), Salmonella species (9.68%), Shigella species (8.87%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.65%), and Proteus species (3.23%). GH¢ notes had 25.81%, 20.16%, 19.35%, 17.74%, and 16.94% from meat shops, commercial drivers, canteens, grocery shops, and vegetable shops, respectively. All bacteria were 100% resistant to erythromycin, 87.5% to tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole, 75% to vancomycin, while 87.50% sensitive to amikacin. The GH¢ notes were heavily colonized with potential pathogens, which are resistant to most commonly used antibiotics and could pose a health threat to users during commercial transactions.

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“…Global surveillance showed there is widespread antibiotics resistance [18,23,24] including drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumonae, vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc. [17,25,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Contaminants and Antibiogram of Ghana paper currency notes in circulation and its associated Health risks in Asante-Mampong, Ghana

Yar

2020

Preprint

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Transmission of pathogens through currency notes has become very relevant in today’s world due to Covid-19 pandemic. This study profiled microbial flora and their antibiotics activities from Ghana paper currency (GH¢) notes in circulation in Mampong Municipal of Ashanti Region, Ghana. The study employed a cross-sectional design to assess bacterial contaminants and their antibiotics activities from January to May 2019. A total of 70 GH¢ notes consisting of 15 each of GH₵1, GH₵2, and GH₵5; 10 each of GH₵10 and GH₵20 and 5 of GH₵50 were randomly sampled from persons at different shops, canteens and commercial drivers. The surfaces of each GH¢ note were gently swabbed and a ten-fold serial dilutions made inoculated on Plate Count Agar (PCA), MacConkey Agar, Mannitol Salt Agar and Desoxycholate Citrate Agar. The study used appropriate laboratory and biochemical tests for bacteria identification. SPSS-IBM version 16.0 was used to analyze the data. Of the 70 GH¢ notes studied, 97.1% were contaminated with one or more bacterial isolates. Mean counts on PCA ranged between 3.2 cfu/ml x 105 and 4.7 cfu/ml x 105 on GH¢ notes. Of 124 bacteria isolated; 34(27.4%), 30(24.2%), 22(17.7%), 17(13.7%), and 8(6.5%) were from GH¢1, GH¢2, GH¢10, GH¢5, GH¢20 and GH¢50 respectively [p<0.05]. Bacterial isolates were; Escherichia coli (28.23%), Staphylococcus auerus (16.94%), Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (16.13%), Klebsiella species (11.29%), Salmonella species (9.68%), Shigella species (8.87%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.65%), and Proteus species (3.23%). GH¢ notes had 25.81%, 20.16%, 19.35%, 17.74% and 16.94% from meat shops, commercial drivers, canteens, grocery shops, and vegetable shops in that order. All bacteria were 100% resistant to erythromycin, 87.5% to tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole; 75% to vancomycin while 87.50% sensitive to amikacin. The GH¢ notes were heavily colonized with potential pathogens which are resistant to most commonly used antibiotics and could pose health threat to users during commercial transactions.

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Assessment of microbial contamination of indian currency notes in circulation – An In vitro study

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Multidrug-resistant Opportunistic and Pathogenic Bacteria Contaminate Algerian Banknotes Currency

Multidrug-resistant Opportunistic and Pathogenic Bacteria Contaminate Algerian Banknotes Currency

Bacterial Contaminants and Antibiogram of Ghana Paper Currency Notes in Circulation and Their Associated Health Risks in Asante-Mampong, Ghana

Bacterial Contaminants and Antibiogram of Ghana paper currency notes in circulation and its associated Health risks in Asante-Mampong, Ghana

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