Kurnool: Dr Ravi Sankar Reddy, an alumnus of All India Institute of Medical Sciences and a leading dermatologist in Kurnool, said bank staff who are dealing with cash that often include soiled and dusty notes are prone to dust allergies.
“In India, people often write on notes. When the ink comes in contact with extraneous substances over a prolonged period of time, it develops some sort of reactionary agents. And staffers exposed to these notes suffer,” he said.
He advised bank staff to use hand sanitisers to prevent recurrence of this occupational hazard.
Dr Bhavani Prasad, a retired principal of the Kurnool Government Medical College, told DC that soiled currency notes had proved to be repositories of fungus and other bacterial elements. Bankers, while counting come in contact with the fungi and develop rashes and allergies. He said that over the past week, when banks experienced a deluge of cash, it was possible that bankers experienced cramps in their fingers.
Dr Prasad added that dust from currency notes had the tendency to get into the lungs. This is particularly dangerous.
