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Dirty money: Traders want protection from 'contaminated currency'

The study implies that currency notes often act as carriers of micro-organisms and can spread microbial diseases

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In a written letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) urged him to conduct an investigation to assess the possibilities of diseases getting spread by currency notes. The federation members stressed on the fact that currency notes are strong carriers of diseases and thus steps should be taken to protect people from the contamination of these notes.

"Currency notes carry all kinds of micro-organisms and thus can cause several diseases. Influenza being at the top. Any kind of droplet or airborne disease can easily get passed through the currency and thus it is highly recommended to wash hands after handling money," said Dr Nandini Duggal, Senior Microbiologist, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

CAIT also mentioned studies conducted on the matter by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which found traces of DNA footprints of at least 78 disease-causing micro-organisms on these notes, though not all of them on a single one. Most of them were fungi, but there were also bacteria that can cause dysentery, tuberculosis and ulcers. The study implies that currency notes often act as carriers of micro-organisms and can spread microbial diseases.

"Money is one of the dirtiest things you can touch. It is sometimes dirtier than a toilet seat. And yes, pathogens do get transferred through currency. That is why it is not advisable to count money by using your saliva on the fingers. Tuberculosis should be one among many diseases that has a potential of being transferred through money," said Dr Muneeb Faiq, Former Clinical Researcher, All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, while commenting on the report, said that it is regretted to note that the scientific journals have been publishing these alarming facts almost every year, but sadly no cognisance has been taken of this serious public health issue.

CAIT also pointed to a report published in the Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences in 2016, which says that 86.4 per cent of the 120 currency notes tested at the department of microbiology, Tirunelveli Medical College, Tamil Nadu, were contaminated with disease-causing pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, EColi, Staphylococcus aureus.

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