Study of the effect of selected commercial detergents (Soap, Wet wipes ) and probiotic Lactobacillus against bacteria isolated from paper currencies in Baghdad, Iraq.

Background: every day we handle paper currency , its widespread use and constant exchange make currency a likely agent for disease transmission. Therefore, there is unmet need to find new antimicrobial agents from natural sources such as Cell-Free Supernatant from Probiotic Lactobacillus instead of commercial detergents Which had demonstrated inadequate efficiency in this study. Aim: This study aims to compare between the antibacterial activity of commercial detergents (soap & wet wipes) with Cell-free supernatants from probiotic Lactobacillus against the bacteria that were isolated from currency. At the same time gives an idea of the extent of bacterial contamination of the currency in Baghdad-Iraq. Methods: A total of 32 samples of Iraqi paper currency, consisting of four denominations (1000,5000,10.000,25.000) ID, gathered aseptically from different sources (Collected from the people most in handled with currencies) street food vendors, cafeterias , roadside vendors and Taxi drivers in Baghdad city. The isolates were diagnosed by Vitek-2 system, using agar well diffusion method, three materials (soap, wet wipes, CFS from probiotic Lactobacillus) were tested against each type of isolated microorganisms. Results: In this present study, Maximum inhibitory activity was observed in the CFS from probiotic Lactobacillus against all isolates, but some isolates showed resistance to commercial detergents (soap and wet wipes). Conclusions: The study suggests that the Cell-free supernatants from probiotic Lactobacillus possibly could be used as cost-effective source of bioactive compounds that has could be used as bio-preventative agent against Bacteria on the circulating Currencies alternative to commercial detergents.