Welsh scientists are setting about finding new antimicrobials and honey, hops and tea seem to be at the forefront of a new natural source.
Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science has been investigating ancient remedies and believes that more natural remedies could be the answer to increasingly antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Prof Les Baillie told the BBC that while some of the remedies might be “hokum or snake oil, it’s likely that over thousands of years our ancestors hit on something that actually worked”.
Honey, in particular, is believed to work, and New Zealand Manuka honey could be the most potent.
“Honey has been used for thousands of years to treat wounds and indeed is still used in our hospitals to treat patients with these intractable infections that are not responding to antibiotics,” Baillie told the BBC.
Researchers are looking derived compounds which could be effective at tackling hospital superbug MRSA.
