Paper currencies, a potential carrier of pathogenic microorganisms.

ABSTRACT

Microbial analysis of 500 Indian currencies collected from people of different categories across the state Assam (India) has shown the presence of various pathogenic microorganisms viz, E. coli, Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp., Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus sp. which are known to be responsible for watery diarrhea, mouth skin diseases, pneumonia, respiratory track diseases, gastro intestinal diseases etc. This may be due to the climatic conditions of most of the third world Asian countries which favors the optimum growth conditions for the microorganisms and a huge number of carriers handling them due to larger population in these regions.