Harmful bacteria in taka notes leading to urine infection

One note, circulated among many. Often times, the note falls into a pile of garbage, and ends up in someone's hand again. And this note might contain "E-Coli" or "fecal coliform" or other forms of harmful bacteria.

The information came up in a research conducted by Nishat Tasnim, a final-year student of the Environmental Science Discipline at Khulna University.

To conduct the research – titled "Study on the Bacterial Contamination on Paper Money, and Coins of Khulna City Area" – Nishat collected samples of taka, and coins from 15 sources in Dhaka, and sent them to different labs for testing.

Among these samples, the ones collected from meat, fish, and poultry sellers proved to be the ones with the most bacteria.

Supervisor of Environmental Science Discipline of the university, Prof Dr Abdullah Harun Chowdhury, provided the information.

"We cannot lead our daily lives without money," Dr Abdullah said. "However, those very notes have become a dangerous cause of harming our health. A lot of people are getting affected by touching this money, and eating without washing their hands first."

A large-scale research on this topic will be conducted within a year, Dr Abdullah added.

Chief of the medicine department of Khulna Medical College and Hospital, Dr SM Kamal, said: "Taka and coins contain a lot of harmful bacteria, and germs. Often, the notes fall into ditches, drains and garbage, and then the person who dropped them just pick them up, and use them. The germs do not go away."

According to Dr Kamal, a lot of the bacteria that was found in these notes are generally found in feces. 

"These bacteria might cause urine infection," Dr Kamal said.

More than 1,000 bacteria is harmful for human bodies, according to the Assistant Registrar of Khulna Medical College and Hospital Dr Partha Pratim Debnath.