What bacteria are on banknotes

When I was a child, I would be scolded by adults if I played with money. I was told not to touch it casually because it contained dirty things. In fact, there is no dirt on the paper itself. The money itself has passed through the hands of many people and circulated in major cities, so it is normal for bacteria to exist on it. In addition, money cannot be washed or disinfected, so you naturally need to wash your hands after touching the money.

Coins are a country’s “business card” and also a symbol of a person’s hygiene habits. During the circulation process, banknotes accumulate a lot of sweat, oil, dust, etc., carry a large number of bacteria, and become a major medium for spreading diseases.

A study by the City University of Hong Kong shows that each RMB note contains an average of 178,000 bacteria, while the number of bacteria on each 5-cent, 1-yuan and 10-cent note is as high as 18 million, making it a standout among the many currencies in Asia. During its circulation, RMB comes into contact with many people at complex levels, and has become one of the important channels for the spread of pathogenic bacteria.

The most common bacteria on coins is Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a common bacterium in the human intestine. Under normal circumstances, most E. coli have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with the human body. Only under special circumstances such as reduced immunity and long-term lack of intestinal stimulation, will E. coli cause disease and migrate to places outside the intestine, such as the gallbladder, urethra, bladder, appendix, etc., causing infection in the corresponding parts. The E. coli on coins mostly come from feces, and will multiply and spread as the coins circulate, causing pathogenic infections.

Unclean food often contains Salmonella. When people buy these foods, it is easy for the Salmonella on the food to get onto their coins. Some Salmonella are pathogenic only to humans, some are pathogenic only to animals, and some are pathogenic to both humans and animals. Pathogenic Salmonella can cause gastrointestinal food poisoning in humans, leading to gastroenteritis, typhoid and paratyphoid. This bacterium has a strong ability to survive in the external environment. In a suitable environment such as coins, Salmonella can even survive for several months. When the human body's resistance is weak, pathogenic Salmonella will cause disease.

Fortunately, most of these bacteria are conditionally pathogenic bacteria, which means that under normal circumstances, the human body will not become sick due to these bacteria. These bacteria will only take advantage of the situation when the human body's resistance is weak and invade.

Bacteria are easily spread through food

Although the total number of bacteria on the RMB has decreased, the contamination of potential pathogenic bacteria is still relatively serious. Yuan Qipeng, professor and dean of the School of Life Sciences and Technologies at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, introduced that experimental results showed that the positive detection rates of coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella on the RMB were 65.6%, 45.9%, 41.7%, 67.7% and 19.8% respectively. These bacteria are most easily spread through food. "What needs more attention is that the drug resistance problem of RMB bacteria is very serious." Yuan Qipeng said that the experiment found that these bacteria have a high tolerance rate to multiple antibiotics and are becoming increasingly difficult to kill.

Creases and wrinkles will increase the amount of bacteria on banknotes. Avoid crumpling or folding money or holding it in your hands. It is best to keep the money flat in your wallet and clean your wallet regularly. Do not scribble or make marks on the RMB. Try not to touch the RMB when your hands are dirty or wet. In addition, after touching coins, you should wash your hands in time to prevent cross infection.