The Antimicrobial Activity of Honey on Bacterial Isolates from Burns/Wound of Patients Attending General Hospital, Ankpa, Kogi, Nigeria

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of honey samples from Ankpa, Enjema and Ojoku districts of Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State against coagulase negative Staphylococcus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Proteus species from 200 burns/wound patients attending General Hospital, Ankpa were determined. The sensitivity of honey to the test organisms ranges from 16mm to 19mm in diameter. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the honey samples on the bacterial isolates from Ankpa and Ojoku were 0.16 v/v and 0.32 v/v for honey from Enjema. The results of the study revealed that honey from the area understudy has high antimicrobial activity hence could provide alternative antimicrobial agent to overome the problem of increasing bacteria resistance to synthetic antimicrobial agents. It is therefore recommended that pure natural honey should be stocked in hospitals/clinics in order to encourage its application in the treatment of burns/wound infections.