Bacterial contamination of coins obtained from school canteen and green market

摘要

Sir, In this journal, a study of bacterial contamination on coins and banknotes was recently published [1]. A high density of bacteria was found, most belonging to cutaneous or environmental bacterial species. The study included gymnasium students and a strong association between findings on coins from a given person was discussed in relation to general hygiene habits as well as the place where the coins were held. We here report a study of bacterial contamination of money coins samples obtained on the green marketplace of vegetable/ fruit sellers in comparison with coin samples from school canteens. The study was carried out in Eskisehir, Turkey. In the study, 50 money coins were collected from school canteens and different vendors of the green market by random sampling method. Of the money samples, 25 were taken from school canteens, 25 from different vendors in the green market, and the collected money was divided into four groups. Each of the coin samples was supplied with sterile plastic bags from the direct source without any contact, and each bag was placed in a clean plastic box. The collection of the money samples was completed for a total of three hours and was brought to the laboratory for analysis on the same day. The collected coins were transferred into 15 ml of liquid Brain-Heart Infusion Broth and shaken at 2000 rpm for 15 min. About 100 μL from each sample inoculated on Blood and Eosin Methylene Blue agar medium. The samples incubated at 37 °C for 48 h were stained with Gram stain for morphological preliminary evaluation and separated according to morphological structures.