The environment plays a critical role in transmission of germs to humans, serving as vehicles. Disease-causing germs may be transmitted, either directly, through hand-to-hand contact, or indirectly via food or other inanimate objects.
These routes of transmission are of great importance in the health of many populations in developing countries, where the frequency of infection is a general indication of local hygiene and environmental sanitation levels.
Paper currency is widely exchanged for goods and services in countries worldwide. The possibility that currency notes might act as environmental vehicles for the transmission of potential disease-carrying microorganisms was suggested in the 1970s. Paper currency is used for every type of commerce, from buying beverages at a local store to trafficking in sex and drugs. All this trade is in hard currency, with lower - denomination notes receiving the most handling because they are exchanged many times and without any particular consideration of the position of the person in payment.
Paper currency provides a large surface area as a breeding ground for disease-causing germs. Money on which these germs might survive represents an often over looked reservoir for enteric disease. In most parts of the developed world, there is a popular belief that the simultaneous handling of food and money contributes to the incidence of food - related public health incidents.
Over the last two decades, the possibility of currency contamination with microorganisms has also been observed among many professional groups, including food handlers. An investigation carried out in 1997 that involved swabbing and culturing from various coins and paper money randomly collected from doctors, laboratory staff and other employees at a New York hospital resulted in the recovery of many disease-causing microorganisms.
This suggested that without hygienic intervention, human occupational activities, especially those involving simultaneous money handling, could introduce the risk of cross – contamination to foods. Failure of food service workers to adequately sanitize hands or use food - handling tools (tongs, spoons, utensils or bakery/serving papers) between the handling of money and the serving of food could put food service patrons at risk.
An aspect of food service that frequently causes comment, is the way a food handler prepares the food, takes money for the purchase, returns change to the customer, and then prepares food for the next customer. Anything that gets on hands can get on money.
With a number of infectious intestinal diseases, a low dose of the infectious agent is capable of causing illness.
Scientific information on the contamination of money by microbial agents is lacking in most developing countries. Although till date, there is no outbreak of food-borne and other illnesses that have been associated with infection from money, the dearth of information on the extent of contamination of currency had contributed to the absence of public health policies or legislation on currency usage, handling, and circulation in countries like Nigeria.
Nonetheless a lot of people lose their lives every year in Nigeria due to the transmittance of diseases by different kind of pathogenic microorganisms. Certainly, the use of currency notes could be one of the major sources of transmittance of such diseases that provides platform for the growth of such pathogenic microorganisms.
Paradoxically, a study on the potential risk of handling Nigerian currency notes identified several microorganisms that are present on Nigerian currency notes.
The bacteria isolated were Streptococcus species, Staphylococcus aureus, Eschericha coli and Bacillus species. The fungi isolated were Aspergilus niger, Aspergilus flavus and Rhizopus species. Most of these isolated micro organisms are pathogenic to man.
Streptococcus specie, although a normal flora of the nose, stomach and skin, is a group of Gram positive bacteria. Many strain of this specie have been implicated in infectious diseases of human, including scarlet fever, sore throat and streptococcal pneumonia. Most of these diseases were leading causes of ill-health and death. Escherichia coli are an inhabitant of human intestines. The organism comes to the environment through faecal contamination. It is known to cause bloody diarrhoea.
Staphylococcus aureus is among the important bacteria that cause disease in humans. It causes various supportive or pus forming diseases such as boils, folliculitis, scalded- skin syndrome. Staphylococcus aureus can produce disease in almost every organ and tissue of the body, especially in people whose body defensive mechanisms have been compromised, such as those in the hospital. It also causes Staphylococcal food poisoning.
In a 2012 study carried out by Uraku, A. J.; Obaji, P. I. and Nworie, all from the Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, entitled: “Potential Risk of Handling Nigerian Currency Notes” and published in the International Journal of Advanced Biological Research, it was revealed that a significant association between bacterial and fungal contamination and the condition of the currency.
Of importance also was the finding that higher rates of microbial contamination were found on the dirty/mutilated notes used by beggars followed by hawkers, market women, bus conductors and lastly bankers.
The researchers wrote:”This finding has very important health and economic implications, especially in underdeveloped and developing tropical nations of the world and particularly in Asia and Africa” because the climatic and environmental conditions of the tropics favour the thriving of many pathogenic microorganisms, and in the face of underdevelopment, inadequate water and sanitation, crowded living conditions, lack of access to health care, and low levels of education, a greater proportion of the populace, particularly the poor, become highly susceptible to infection and disease.
Dr Abiola Okesola, a consultant clinical microbiologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, corroborated the increased risk of infection from currency notes due to its frequency of changing hands and handling pattern.
According to her, the hands normally carry a normal flora, which can easily be transferred to the currency notes just as the germs that are present in the environment.
Dr Okesola, who noted that the most prevalent microorganisms on the hand are bacterial in nature, stated that the germs could only cause diseases when they have avenue into the human body.
She stated: “If the person handling the currency notes has injuries on the skin and the skin is broken, then the germs can easily enter into the body. When the person’s immunity level is low, it can cause an infection. But if the immunity is high, the infection can be aborted.”
Nonetheless, Dr Okesola declared that many people do not develop infections as a result of handling currency notes because of their high immunity status. “We only have few cases like conjunctivitis or Apollo occurring when someone touches a contaminated currency note and with the same hand touch his or her eyes.
However, there is need for personal hygienic practices like washing of hands as ways of reducing contamination from handling currency notes.
According to her, much as people cannot do away with handling currency notes, imbibing the culture of proper hand washing with soap and water before eating or touching any part of the body would help.
She stressed that government should also do more to create awareness on proper handling of currency notes-not crumpling the notes, putting money underneath brassieres or socks as well as write on them.
Source:tribune
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