Forget about Aircraft A/C systems - look in your wallet ..
About seven percent of paper money may be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria, according to a study. Researchers requested $1 bills from people in a grocery store and waiting in line at a concession stand. They then soaked each bill, 68 in all, in a vial of brain-heart infusion broth for 30 to 60 minutes.After the bill was removed, the broth was incubated, streaked onto an agar plate and incubated again. It was then monitored for growth of bacterial colonies.The bills yielded 93 bacterial isolates and 94 percent of the bills had bacterial colonies. Further, seven percent of the bills were contaminated with bacteria that could cause disease to hospitalized patients or patients with compromised immune systems, according to researchers.
Southern Medical Journal December 2002;95(12):1408-10
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