Hepatitis B virus detected in paper currencies in a densely populated city of India: A plausible source of horizontal transmission?

Table 1 Sites of sample collection

Types of locations of sample collection	Detailed description of the actual sites of collection	Co-ordinates	Distance from central Kolkata1 (in Km)	Number of currency samples collected (n = 70)	Number of samples that are hepatitis B virus-positive
Hospitals	Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital	22.5638° N, 88.3690° E	2.6	2	1 HBV-positive (S5)
	SSKM Hospital	22.5396° N, 88.3439° E	4.8	2	-
	Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI)	22.5254° N, 88.3465° E	3.7	2	-
	Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMC)	22.5467° N, 88.3704° E	4.5	3	1HBV-positive (S8)
	KPC Medical College and Hospital	22.4956° N, 88.3706° E	9.3	4	-
Public transport routes (bus): First stop and last stop	2302(Kamarhati to Alipore Zoo)	22.6847° N, 88.3706° E-22.5248° N, 88.3312° E	13.4 - 5.1	4	-
	47B (Lake town to Super Market, Prince Anwar Shah Road)	22.6070° N, 88.4028° E-22.5015° N, 88.3617° E	19.4-7.5	5	-
	3C/1 (Anandapur to Nagerbazar)	22.5148° N, 88.4098° E-22.6218° N, 88.4180° E	11.5 -19.7	5	-
	45 (Dumdum to Baishnabghata)	22.6471° N, 88.4317° E-22.4729° N, 88.3764° E	22.8-11.4	5	-
	S9 (Jadavpur to Karunamoyee)	22.4956° N, 88.3706° E-22.5851° N, 88.4222° E	8.8 -13.5	5	1 HBV-positive (S6)
Grocery shop	Shyam Bazar	22.5982° N, 88.3687° E	6.2	3	-
	Big Bazaar, Ganguli Bagan	22.4800° N, 88.3757° E	18.2	3	-
	South City Mall	22.5015° N, 88.3617° E	7.5	4	-
	Dunlop	22.6519° N, 88.3786° E	12.4	4	-
	Gariahat	22.5170° N, 88.3658° E	6.7	4	-
Fish-meat market	Howrah	22.5958° N, 88.2636° E	6.1	2	1 HBV-positive (S7)
	Baguihati	22.6107° N, 88.4271° E	18.3	4	-
	Hazra	22.5228° N, 88.3500° E	4.3	4	-
	Jadavpur	22.4956° N, 88.3706° E	8.8	2	1 HBV-positive (S9)
	Gariahat	22.5170° N, 88.3658° E	6.7	3	-

¹The Indian Museum (22.5579°N, 88.3511°E) is taken as landmark for central Kolkata.

²The number indicates the officially designated bus route number. HBV: Hepatitis B virus.

Table 2 Oligonucleotide primers used for amplifying target genes in hepatitis B virus

Name	Sequence 5’-3’	Amplicon size (bp)	Reference
SPL-3-F	GCGCGCGCTAGCACCATGGGGARCAYCRYATCRGGA	1652	[7]
SPL-2-R	GCCTTTGCAAGCTTCASACCAATTTATGCCTAC
SPL-4-F	ACCACAGAGTCTAGACTYGTGGT	1277
SPL-5-R	GGTCGGAACRRCAGRCGRAGAAG
HBVRT-F	GTGTCTGCGGCGTTTTATCA	98	This study
HBVRT-R	GACAAACGGGCAACATACCTT