Scientists detected 13 lactic acid bacteria in raw honey with potential to fight wound

Scientists from Sweden detected 13 lactic acid bacteria in raw honey with potential to fight wound including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

This was revealed by a study published in the International Wound Journal (IWJ) in the second week of September 2014. The lead author of the study was Tobias Olofsson, professor of Medical Microbiology at Lund University in Sweden.

The study found that these 13 lactic acid bacteria combined together are more effective than conventional antibiotics in fighting deadly wound infections. The test has already been effectively tested on horses and it may be a stepping stone towards an alternative solution to antibiotics.

Scientists isolated 42 different pathogens in the open wounds of 22 patients like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) as well as MRSA and then treated them with the 13 lactic acid bacteria from honey. The results are compared with antibiotics and may be even more effective against the growing number of drug-resistant threads of common infections.

Antibiotics are mostly one active substance and effective against only a narrow spectrum of bacteria. When used alive, these 13 lactic acid bacteria produce the right kind of antimicrobial compounds as needed, depending on the threat.