Screening of currency in circulation for bacterial contamination

摘要

Fomites or inanimate objects play a major role in indirect transmission of infections like diphtheria, trachoma, gastroenteritis, whooping cough and pathogenic agents causing diarrhoea1. Currency contaminated by microbes might also act as fomite, playing an important role in the transmission of microorganisms and also in the spread of drug-resistant strains in the community, as it is the most widely handled article by people from all walks of life2,3. Currency is bound to get contaminated either from the environment or from the persons handling it.