Honey and wound infections: the latest buzz!

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Honey has been used for a millenia for treating superficial infections, and modern scientist have shown that constituents within Manuka honey are actively bactericidal - they actually kill germs. Now they've found that not only can this honey kill certain antibiotic resistant bacteria, it can also stop them from getting a foothold in a wound in the first place.

This is how they think it works: when a cell gets damaged it releases a protein onto its surface called Fibronectin. Opportunistic bacteria called S. Pyogenes spot the protein and are able to "bind onto" it initiating an infection. S Pyogenes is also very good at forming a "Bio-film" which acts as a physical barrier to the circulating antibiotics: plus they are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics anyway. Manuka Honey decreases the host cells ability to express Fibronectin on the surface and so the bacteria have nothing to hang onto and thus goodbye biofilm. The researchers at Cardiff have shown that even a small trace of the honey can kill over 85% of S Pyogenes within 2 hours in a petri dish.

It is reported that Manuka honey inhibits the growth of over 80 strains of bacteria in an age of increasing drug resistance, and infected wounds globally cause a massive amount of disability and even death.

But all is not happiness in the Bee world. Manuka honey is only found in New Zealand and parts of Australia. In my home state of W Australia we are proud of our Karri honey which is also rich in the active ingredients found in its Manuka cousin. But bees world wide are under threat, not only from viruses and mites that have been devastating hives internationally, but also in Europe with the potential restriction of harvesting honey from crops that have been genetically modified.

But European apiarists are trying to take the sting out of the situation by a novel manoeuver. They are taking their hives into the cities and setting them up on the roofs of museums and opera houses. Industrial sprays are not permitted within city limits, and parks are full of flowers in spring: so now we have chemicals in the country and "farming" in the cities ..... isn't life interesting!
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Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Lister and William Halstead

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It's always good to see your "rellies" name in the headlines, even if the link is extremely tenuous!

I saw a headline labeled Thomas Jefferson University, and was immediately drawn to it, both for the name and the fact that someone had reduced wound infections by nearly 50%! It was serendipitous really that I had just finished reading a book about the introduction of painless surgery in the 19th Century. The death rate due to infection following surgery during this period was an astonishing 70 to 90%,  in fact "Laudable pus" was seen to be a healthy sign and a natural progression to normal wound healing!

Remember, prior to 1846 when Dr Joseph Lister introduced his aspectic techniques with carbolic acid, surgeons wore the same frock coats to each operation, and when surgery was over, they wiped their instruments on them to clean them. And it wasn't until 1889 (the year that my grandfather was born!) that Dr William Halstead in the US, introduced the wearing of rubber gloves during surgery. Actually, according to legend, he didn't introduce them to help reduce wound infections, but because the theatre nurse he "fancied" had terrible skin reactions to carbolic acid, and so he had them custom made for her as a "surprise" to protect her skin. It obviously worked so well that everyone started wearing them and the rest is history!

But back to Thomas Jefferson (not related sadly)  and the hospital named after him. Apparently by introducing a check list of 12 things to do to reduce infection rates, they had an astounding 50% reduction in wound infections after a surgical procedure known as a Whipple's operation. This is an operation that is performed for growths on the pancreas, both benign and malignant. The actions they took weren't big things either, amongst others they included:

• smoking was banned at least 2 weeks prior to surgery
• they clipped hair from the skin pre-op instead of shaving it off.
• they used Chlorhexidine-alcohol skin preparation instead of iodine
• they protected the skin edges meticulously during surgery
• they changed gloves and gowns before closing the abdominal wound.

Historically, medicine progresses in small steps, and it's attention to the small things that often make the biggest difference.

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