Prevalence of Parasitic Contamination of Paper Money in Fars Province of Iran

Money is one of the most commonly used microbial carriers. Parasites are no exception to this rule. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the presence of parasitic species in paper money collected from various sources in Fars Province and suggesting ways to improve community health.

In this study, banknotes were randomly collected from people from different rural and urban areas of Fars province between March 2018 and November 2019. In addition, these banknotes were gathered from various sources including butchers, bakers, supermarkets, gas stations, and vegetable shops and stored at Diluted Water (DW). Then, they were extracted from the water and the solution was centrifuged at 3000 rpm. The surface water was drained and expanded from the remaining materials, stained with Giemsa color, and finally, observed under a microscope.

In the urban areas, 2 (3.7%), 22 (40.7%), 8 (14.8%), 4 (7.4%), 4 (7.4%), 12 (22.3%), and 2 (3.7%) contaminations were related to Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Ascaris lumbricoides, Hookworm, unknown larvae, and Hymenolepis nana, respectively. In the rural areas, 4 (11.7%), 8 (23.5%), 6 (17.6%), 2 (5.8%), 4 (11.7%), and 10 (29.4%) infections were related to Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Ascaris lumbricoides, Hookworm, and to unknown larvae, respectively.

According to the results, hand hygiene is important for promoting community health since hands are largely in contact with money.