Investigating the Microbial Contamination on the Wallets, Banknotes, Coins and Bank Cards of Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences

Today, besides using a variety of credit cards in order to trade and trading systems. The use of banknotes and coins is widely used by people around the world, which it is believed that money as a carrier of different microorganisms can easily transmit these microscopic organisms to other people and functions as one of the infectious agents in the transmission of disease. Therefore, in this study the bacterial contamination of wallet, banknotes, coins, and bankcards in the student population was investigated.
This cross sectional study was done in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2017. Samples taken randomly from student’s wallet, banknotes, coins, and bankcards. To determine the bacterial contamination the multiple tube fermentation (MTF) in term of Most Probable Number (MPN) test and Heterotrophic plate count (HPC) tests were used.
The results showed all sampled wallet, banknotes, coins, and bankcards had bacterial contamination. Among them the highest contamination based on MPN of total coliforms and HPC results obtained for coins.
According to the obtained results it can be concluded banknotes, coins, wallets and bank cards had bacterial contamination that can play as transmitters of bacterial contamination.