Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings
Background: Fomites (including money) can transmit diseases to humans. How the nature of money influences contamination has not been adequately demonstrated. Moreover, such studies in church settings are non-existent. Thus, we studied how money collected from a church could serve as human disease tr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Tehran University of Medical Sciences
2019-05-01
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| Series: | Iranian Journal of Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/17111 |
| _version_ | 1818772258242428928 |
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| author | Akebe Luther King ABIA Eunice UBOMBA-JASWA |
| author_facet | Akebe Luther King ABIA Eunice UBOMBA-JASWA |
| author_sort | Akebe Luther King ABIA |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Fomites (including money) can transmit diseases to humans. How the nature of money influences contamination has not been adequately demonstrated. Moreover, such studies in church settings are non-existent. Thus, we studied how money collected from a church could serve as human disease transmission vehicles.
Methods: Overall, 284 money samples (currency notes and coins) were collected during two Sundays in the months of Nov and Dec 2015 from a church congregation in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and fungi were investigated using culture (Colilert® method) and molecular methods (Sanger sequencing). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to visualize the possible positions of the bacteria on various parts of a currency note.
Results: Of the 192 samples (first sampling round), 76 (39.6%) were positive for E. coli. Smaller notes (R10) recorded the highest E. coli counts per note. Of the 92 notes analyzed for potentially pathogenic bacteria and fungi (second sampling round), 76 (82%) showed growth on at least one of the six culture media used. Sequencing revealed three bacterial (Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium) and two fungal (Clavispora and Rhodotorula) genera. SEM revealed that microorganisms could enter cracks of creased notes.
Conclusion: Unlike previous studies conducted where recent contamination could occur, the current study shows that microorganisms can survive on money; samples were collected from a church, where little or no exchange takes place. Moreover, using SEM demonstrates that aged and creased notes favor attachment of bacteria to money and could be of public health concern by transmitting disease within a given population. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T10:06:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ccce37084aca4a84b82da05f0fed5f7f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2251-6085 2251-6093 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T10:06:30Z |
| publishDate | 2019-05-01 |
| publisher | Tehran University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Iranian Journal of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-ccce37084aca4a84b82da05f0fed5f7f2022-12-21T21:11:33ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesIranian Journal of Public Health2251-60852251-60932019-05-0148510.18502/ijph.v48i5.1801Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church OfferingsAkebe Luther King ABIA0Eunice UBOMBA-JASWA1Antimicrobial Research Unit, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South AfricaDepartment of Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa AND Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South AfricaBackground: Fomites (including money) can transmit diseases to humans. How the nature of money influences contamination has not been adequately demonstrated. Moreover, such studies in church settings are non-existent. Thus, we studied how money collected from a church could serve as human disease transmission vehicles. Methods: Overall, 284 money samples (currency notes and coins) were collected during two Sundays in the months of Nov and Dec 2015 from a church congregation in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and fungi were investigated using culture (Colilert® method) and molecular methods (Sanger sequencing). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to visualize the possible positions of the bacteria on various parts of a currency note. Results: Of the 192 samples (first sampling round), 76 (39.6%) were positive for E. coli. Smaller notes (R10) recorded the highest E. coli counts per note. Of the 92 notes analyzed for potentially pathogenic bacteria and fungi (second sampling round), 76 (82%) showed growth on at least one of the six culture media used. Sequencing revealed three bacterial (Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium) and two fungal (Clavispora and Rhodotorula) genera. SEM revealed that microorganisms could enter cracks of creased notes. Conclusion: Unlike previous studies conducted where recent contamination could occur, the current study shows that microorganisms can survive on money; samples were collected from a church, where little or no exchange takes place. Moreover, using SEM demonstrates that aged and creased notes favor attachment of bacteria to money and could be of public health concern by transmitting disease within a given population.https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/17111MoneyDisease transmissionChurchMicrobial contaminationPublic health |
| spellingShingle | Akebe Luther King ABIA Eunice UBOMBA-JASWA Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings Iranian Journal of Public Health Money Disease transmission Church Microbial contamination Public health |
| title | Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings |
| title_full | Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings |
| title_fullStr | Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings |
| title_short | Dirty Money on Holy Ground: Isolation of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi on Money Collected from Church Offerings |
| title_sort | dirty money on holy ground isolation of potentially pathogenic bacteria and fungi on money collected from church offerings |
| topic | Money Disease transmission Church Microbial contamination Public health |
| url | https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/17111 |
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