Manuka Honey Kills Resistant Superbug Bacteria that Antibiotics Can't

Monday, July 21, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: Manuka honey, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) A honey-based dressing for wounds is effective even on injuries that are resistant to antibiotics, according to New Jersey manufacturer Derma Sciences Inc.

The product, called Medihoney, is made from an absorbent material based on seaweed, and saturated with a variety of honey known as manuka, or Leptospermum, honey. The honey is produced by bees that have collected nectar from manuka and jelly bushes, which grow in Australia and New Zealand.

According to biochemist Peter Molan, who has researched natural antibiotics including honey for 25 years, manuka honey is effective at killing even the most antibiotic resistant bacteria even when it has been diluted to a tenth of its original concentration.

"There's more evidence, clinical evidence, by far for honey in wound treatment than for any of the pharmaceutical products," Molan said. He recommends it in particular for people with weak immune systems.

"It's been used on wounds where nothing else will work," he said.

Medihoney is already being used in hospitals, doctors' offices and other medical settings in both North and South America. Similar products have been popular in Australia, New Zealand and Europe for more than 10 years.

The honey-based dressings are effective at absorbing fluids and killing germs for up to a week, making them ideal in settings where it is difficult to change dressings regularly. They also reduce inflammation and foul wound odors better than traditional, pharmaceutical-based dressings.

Emergency physician Craig Lambrecht said that he began using a manuka-honey based dressing to treat children with severe burns at a military clinic in Iraq last winter. The honey dressings soon became more popular with Iraqi families than conventional dressings because they were more natural and easier to use. In addition, Lambrecht found that the children treated with honey healed faster and experienced fewer complications than children treated with conventional dressings.

"I would use the Medihoney on burns on my children, as the first choice, without question," Lambrecht said.