Bacterial Contamination of Iranian Paper Currency and Their Antibiotic Resistance Patterns

International Journal of Enteric Pathogens

article

Farzaneh Firoozeh¹  Ehsan Dadgostar¹  Hussein Akbari¹  Mohammad Zibaei³  Seyed Mohammad Sadjjad Sadjjadian¹  Mohammad Mehdi Moshtaghi¹  Alireza Shakib³ 

[1] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences;Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences;Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences

关键词: Paper currency;    Bacterial contamination;    Antibiotic resistance;   

DOI  :  10.15171/ijep.2017.25

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Alborz University of Medical Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Background: Paper banknotes would be a vector for transmission of pathogenic microorganisms through handling. Objective: This study aimed to determine bacterial contamination of Iranian paper currencies in circulation and their antibiotic resistance patterns. Materials and Methods: In this study, 337 currency notes of different value were collected from markets, shops, restaurants, bus stations and banks in Kashan, Iran during April 2015 to March 2016. The currency notes transferred to microbiology laboratory and were tested for bacterial contamination using standard microbiological methods. Antibiotic resistance patterns of isolated bacteria were determined by disk diffusion method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standards. The results and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of 337 currency notes, 262 (77.7%) were identified with bacterial contamination. Bacteria isolated from currency notes were as follows: Bacillus spp 113 (43.1%), coagulasenegative staphylococci 99 (37.7%), Escherichia coli 20 (7.6%), Enterococci species 14 (5.3%), Staphylococcus aureus 8 (3.1%), Klebsiella spp 4 (1.5%), Shigella species 2 (0.8%), and Pseudomonas species 2 (0.8%). The most and least contaminated currency notes were 50000 and 500 Rials, respectively. The highest resistance rates in gram-negative rods were against nalidixic acid, and ampicillin. However, the highest resistance rates in S. aureus, coagulasenegative staphylococci and Enterococci species were against ampicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline. Conclusion: Our study revealed that the bacterial contamination among Iranian paper currency in circulation especially those obtained from certain sources including shops and bus stations is high and in most cases these bacterial isolates are antibiotic-resistant strains.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC