Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland.
Pol J Microbiol. 2013;62(3):281-6.
The potential role of currency in the spread of pathogenic microflora has been evaluated in many countries. In this study Polish paper notes and the coins in general circulation were assayed for the presence of cultivable bacteria and fungi. Bacterial isolates identification was based on cultural and biochemical characters and by comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence. Fungal isolates were recognized with biochemical and morphological criteria. Coagulase-negative staphylococci, (43.6% of the total bacterial count) including Staphylococcus saprophyticus, S. epidermidis, and S. hominis, and Enteroccus spp. (30.8% of the total bacterial count), i.e. E.faecalis, E.faecium and E. durans, were the most numerous bacterial contamination. Penicillium spp., and Aspergillus spp. were the most frequently detected moulds whereas Candida spp. was the most frequent yeast isolated from currency. A visible dependence between the banknote denomination, the physical condition of paper currency, and the number of bacteria and fungi was found. The overall count of bacteria isolated from currency was thousand-fold higher than that of fungal isolates. The total amount of bacteria and fungi recovered from the coins was approximately 2.7-fold lower than that isolated from the notes. In summary, the Polish currency notes were found to be contaminated mainly with commensal bacteria and fungi while the opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas stutzeri and C. albicans were detected at a low frequency.
许多国家都评估了货币在病原微生物传播中的潜在作用。在这项研究中，对波兰纸币和流通硬币进行了检测，以确定其是否存在可培养细菌和真菌。细菌分离株的鉴定基于培养和生化特征，并通过比较 16S rRNA 基因序列进行。真菌分离株通过生化和形态学标准来识别。凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌（占总细菌计数的 43.6%），包括腐生葡萄球菌、表皮葡萄球菌和人葡萄球菌，以及肠球菌属（占总细菌计数的 30.8%），即粪肠球菌、屎肠球菌和耐久肠球菌，是数量最多的细菌污染。青霉属和曲霉属是最常检测到的霉菌，而从货币中分离出的最常见的酵母是假丝酵母属。发现纸币的面值、纸币的物理状况以及细菌和真菌的数量之间存在明显的相关性。从货币中分离出的细菌总数比真菌分离物高千倍。从硬币中回收的细菌和真菌总量比从纸币中分离出的细菌和真菌总量低约 2.7 倍。总之，波兰货币纸币主要受到共生细菌和真菌的污染，而大肠杆菌、施氏假单胞菌和白色假丝酵母等机会性致病微生物的检出率较低。
