Escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus contimination on Malaysian paper currency in Selangor / Fatin Suziana Yunos

Paper currency is one of the potential vector to transmit communicable diseases because it is continuously exchanged from hand-to-hand as a transaction medium: This increases the possibility of transferring Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus which may also lead to cross contamination. The aim of this study was to determine
the contamination of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on the Malaysian paper currency in Selangor. The contamination was compared based on the different
denomination and also different occupational groups. Forty-eight (48) samples of paper currency from four different denomination which are RM1, RM5, RM10 and
RM20 were collected from four different occupational groups (poultry product sellers, fish sellers, vegetables sellers and food vendors). Samples were washed with peptone water and a series of serial dilution are made up to 10⁹. 0.1ml of serial solution was spread on the Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA) plate and Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) late,
and incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. Paper currency of RM 1 showed the highest contamination of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, followed by RM 5, RM10 and RM20. While the order of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus contamination from different occupational groups was found to be fish sellers > poultry product sellers > vegetables sellers > food vendors. Malaysian paper currency were shown to be contaminated with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which have the potential to spread communicable diseases to human. Consequently, public should be given awareness to practice good personal hygiene during the handling of money for the sake of their health.