School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2025
Abstract
Objectives
The study aims to investigate the prevalence of multidrug resistant bacteria on paper and coin currency obtained from various occupational groups in Bangladesh and to identify the bacterial species present. The research further seeks to evaluate the antibiotic resistance patterns of the identified bacterial isolates.
Methods
84 paper currency notes and 56 coins were collected from seven different sources. Bacterial contamination was assessed using standard bacteriological and biochemical tests to identify and characterize the bacteria. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated strains was evaluated using an antibiogram study.
Results
A total of 368 bacterial isolates were detected across the sampled currency, with 99% of the currency samples contaminated by bacteria. Paper currency exhibited a higher prevalence of contamination compared to coins. Gram-staining revealed 20% Gram-positive and 80% Gram-negative bacteria on notes, compared to 38% Gram-positive and 62% Gram-negative bacteria on coins. Bacterial contamination was most frequent in samples from fish sellers, followed by poultry sellers, fruit sellers, and restaurants. The most commonly identified bacteria were Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella aerogenes. Antibiotic resistance testing revealed that all isolates were 100% resistant to amoxicillin, ampicillin, and penicillin G, while showing 100% sensitivity to azithromycin and gentamycin. Notably, 70.8% of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline, and 75% showed resistance to cefotaxime.
Conclusions
The widespread contamination of currency in Bangladesh with multidrug-resistant bacteria underscore the growing concern about antibiotic resistance. Preventative measures are essential to reduce cross-contamination between currency and food.
Recommended Citation
Mishu, Moshiul Alam, Ashik Imran, Akash Saha, Shahida Ferdousee, Md Rubiath Islam, Mohammad Abdullah-Al-Shoeb, Shahidul Islam, and Muhammad Abul Kalam Azad. "Detection, characterization, and antibiotic resistance profiling of multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from circulating currency in the Northeastern region of Bangladesh." IJID regions 14 (2025): 100519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijregi.2024.100519
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
International Society for Infectious Diseases
DOI
10.1016/j.ijregi.2024.100519
Comments
Graduate Teaching Assistant publication. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )