ReviewEnvironmental health insights2026
Money and Microbes: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Currency Contamination.
Review in Environmental health insights, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Money passes through numerous hands daily, creating an ideal medium for the accumulation and transfer of pathogenic microorganisms. Despite this, a comprehensive synthesis of contamination levels on currency is lacking. Aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the prevalence and types of microbial contamination on money. Methods: A systematic search was conducted for studies published up to December 2024. The review followed the PRISMA guidelines. Pooled prevalence estimates were calculated via a random-effects model. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed via the Results: A total of 35 studies met the eligibility criteria. The overall pooled prevalence of microbial contamination on money was 12.8% (95% CI: 10.9-14.7). Subgroup analyses revealed pooled prevalence rates of 14.0% (95% CI: 11.1-16.8) for bacteria, 17.0% (95% CI: 12.1-21.8) for fungi, and 9.7% (95% CI: 6.8-12.7) for parasites. Conclusion: Money is consistently contaminated with potentially pathogenic microbes. Although direct transmission has not been definitively proven, the frequent presence of clinically significant microorganisms on money poses a credible public health risk.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.