- Essential oils could kill the deadly MRSA hospital 'superbug',
scientists have claimed.
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- University of Manchester researchers found three of the
oils, usually used in aromatherapy, destroyed MRSA and E.coli bacteria
in two minutes.
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- They suggest the oils could be blended into soaps and
shampoos which could be used in hospitals to stop the spread of the superbug.
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- Hospital-acquired infections, such as MRSA, kill an estimated
5,000 a year.
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- The Manchester study was triggered when complementary
medicine specialists at Christie Cancer Hospital asked university researchers
to test essential oils.
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- They wanted to ensure they could not harm the patients,
whose immune systems are weakened by the treatments. Dr Peter Warn, who
carried out the research, said: "When I tested the oils in the lab,
absolutely nothing grew. Rather than stimulating bacteria and fungi, the
oils killed them off."
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- Soaps and shampoos
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- The team then tested 40 essential oils against 10 of
the most infectious agents found in hospitals, including MRSA (methicillin-resistant
staphylococcus aureus).
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- Two of the oils were found to kill MRSA and E.coli almost
instantly, while a third was found to act over a longer period of time.
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- MRSA is often carried in patients' nostrils, and is currently
treated by putting disinfectant on the area to kill the bacterium - which
many patients often find unpleasant.
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- Dr Warn says the essential oils could be used to create
much more pleasant inhalation therapies - which he said were likely to
have a much higher success rate than the current treatment, which is only
effective in around 50% of cases."
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- Dr Warn said: "We believe that our discovery could
revolutionise the fight to combat MRSA and other superbugs."
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- But he said the team now needed around £30,000
in order to continue its research.
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- Jacqui Stringer, clinical leader of complementary therapies
at Christie Hospital in Manchester, instigated the oils research.
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- She said: "Our research shows a very practical application
which could be of enormous benefit to the NHS and its patients.
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- "The reason essential oils are so effective is because
they are made up of a complex mixture of chemical compounds which the MRSA
and other superbug bacteria finds difficult to resist."
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- The Department of Health evaluates products which are
claimed to prevent or treat HAIs before it permits them to be used across
the NHS.
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- © BBC MMIV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4116053.stm
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