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アロマセラピーに使われるエッセンシャルオイルが院内感染などを引き起こす菌を殺菌
３つのエッセンシャルオイルが院内感染の原因となるMRSA菌とO157などのE.coli菌を殺菌する効果があるという内容です。Superbugと呼ばれる殺菌が難しい菌の繁殖を防ぎ除去することにエッセンシャルオイルが大きな働きをするとマンチェスター大学の科学研究室が発表しました。
石鹸やシャンプーに１，２滴のエッセンシャルオイルを垂らして使うことで、大きな殺菌力を働かせるそうです。
３つのエッセンシャルオイルの種類は発表していません。
Aromatherapy oils 'kill superbug'
They suggest the oils could be blended into soaps and shampoos which could be used in hospitals to stop the spread of the superbug.
Hospital-acquired infections, such as MRSA, kill an estimated 5,000 a year.
The Manchester study was triggered when complementary medicine specialists at Christie Cancer Hospital asked university researchers to test essential oils.
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Jacqui Stringer, Christie Hospital, Manchester |
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."
Soaps and shampoosThe team then tested 40 essential oils against 10 of the most infectious agents found in hospitals, including MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus).
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.
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.
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."
Dr Warn said: "We believe that our discovery could revolutionise the fight to combat MRSA and other superbugs."
But he said the team now needed around £30,000 in order to continue its research.
Jacqui Stringer, clinical leader of complementary therapies at Christie Hospital in Manchester, instigated the oils research.
She said: "Our research shows a very practical application which could be of enormous benefit to the NHS and its patients.
"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."The Department of Health evaluates products which are claimed to prevent or treat HAIs before it permits them to be used across the NHS.