Isolation and Identification of Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi from Some Saudi Bank Note CurrencyAbdulmoniem M. A. Saadabi, Mohammed S. Alhussaini,

摘要

Saudi Bank notes were evaluated to detect the level of contamination with pathogenic bacteria and fungi using standard techniques. The genera of bacteria that isolated were Escherichia coli, Citrobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp., Streptococcussp., Bacillus sp., Corynebacterium sp. and Staphylococcus sp. The fungal species Trichophyton sp., Microsporum sp., Epidermophyton sp., Aspergillus sp., Alternaria sp., Penicillium sp., Candida sp., Phycomyces sp., Saccharomyces sp. and Cladosporium sp.were isolated and identified. Potential risk of Saudi bank notes to serve as environmental vehicles for transmission of pathogenic bacteria and fungi was evaluated. Lower values of bank notes were highly contaminated and there is a negative correlation between currency value and microbial contamination. The results suggested that bank notes may be contaminated with infectious bacteria and enteric microbes and may act as a source of serious infection. Personal hygiene, plastic currency notes and electronic or credit banking to reduce the risk of infection were highly recommended.